The Feral
by GypsyWitchBaby
Summary: Stryker has found someone he doesn't want Victor or Jimmy to know about. Can a Sabertooth & a Wolverine play nice when a Wolf is thrown into the mix? Will they fight for her? Or will they decide they each want her for themselves? AU of Origins. Story art on DeviantArt. SEQUEL IS UP: "THE DREAMING ANIMAL"
1. Running, Interrupted

**A/N: Hello folks. This story would not leave me alone! It's been running around in my head for weeks and finally I decided to give in to the muses and write it down. It's based on Wolverine Origins but focuses on Victor Creed and will be AU and Non-Canon. I know that some people may not like it cause it'll be OOC, but hey, it's my story, so please no flames, you'll make me very sad. :'-(**

**Constructive criticism is always appreciated but this story is not going to have the usual Victor we all know and love, so if you're hoping for a totally 100%, authentic movie-based Creed, (and will be offended by a fangirl living out her fantasies, which after all is one of the best parts of fanfiction) look elsewhere. You have been warned. I don't own anything Marvel related, please don't sue me.**

Chapter 1

Running, Interrupted

_Run. _

_Run faster. _

_They're coming. _

_Don't stop. _

_Ignore the pain. Block it OUT. _

_Keep running. _

_Keep moving._

_Can't let them catch you. _

_Can't stop running. _

_Nowhere to hide._

_They're so close! _

_Hurry. _

_Hurry! _

_HUR-_

A small body fell to the grass belly first, the full moon's glow illuminating a female figure and the angry looking dart sticking out from between her shoulder blades. Two men burst out from the forest behind the prone body, one stocky and tall in camos, the other shorter and dressed in black. A third approached more slowly, not cautiously, but almost reverently.

"Excellent shot, Agent Zero." A small smile. "Dukes, carry her. Let's return to the chopper and remember, this mission is just between us. Logan is not to know, and _especially_ not Victor." The third man spoke with dismissive authority, a man used to power, comfortable with it, loving it, demanding it.

"Why not, Stryker? She's just some girl, ain't she?" The man holding the unconscious girl spoke this last bit hesitantly, a confused look on his face, as if he knew he was missing something but for the life of him, he just couldn't grasp it. He was sadly just smart enough to know just how smart he _wasn't_.

"Do not question me Dukes. They. Are. Not. To. Know. Do you understand?" Stryker replied in a chillingly dispassionate tone. His voice almost sounded gentle but his eyes revealed how deadly serious he was. The man in charge turned and went back into the woods, quickly swallowed up in the shadows.

"She's a feral like them. A female feral. That's why they're not supposed to know." The Asian man in black told Dukes who was looking down at the unconscious bundle in his arms. "Come on, we've got to get back to the Island before Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum finish their leave. It wouldn't do to have them find her with us, now would it?" Zero started walking in the direction his commander had, a frigid smirk on his face.

Dukes followed him, he understood now. If the brothers found out about a female feral, well no one really knew what would happen. Maybe they'd kill everyone on base for taking her. Maybe they'd kill each other fighting for her. Or maybe they'd kill the whole base _then_ fight each other. Naw. It was best they don't know.

oOo

**A/N: I may not even continue with this if there's not a lot of interest, so if you like this and want me to continue please review and I will. **


	2. Shades of Gray

**A/N: Once again, I don't anything own anything, Marvel does. Please review if you want the story to continue!**

Chapter 2

Shades of Gray

_Months Later_

"Do you smell that, Victor? I swear I keep smelling something sweet, but for the life of me I can't figure out what it is or where it's coming from!" Logan growled out.

"I know. It's been comin' and goin' fer the last few months. But damn, whatever it is, don't it smell good?" Victor replied, a cheeky grin upon his face.

_One Floor Down_

Distantly, she could hear them. Voices coming in through the air vent, men walking somewhere near her dungeon. They were muffled but her enhanced hearing allowed her to pick them up. She almost screamed for them, for them to save her from this hellish place. But no, if they were walking around they must work here too. They wouldn't help her. Dukes pitied her and visited her when he could, though without Stryker or anyone else knowing of course. He brought her water and food and talked to her about his latest lady love. They had come to an, _understanding_, a while ago. He would not help her escape, but would try to make her more...comfortable.

When she first arrived the female feral had begged and pleaded and screamed for him to help her, to get her out, to save her. After that she raged and snarled and struck out against him. Even managed to scar him a few times. Then she had ignored him, silently livid that he could be so hypocritical as to try and help her when HE was one of the ones who PUT her here in the first place! Dukes continued to bring her what little water and food he could, even after she cut him with her claws, even while she ignored him.

That's what changed her mind. The fact that he kept coming. Her time in this place changed her. Yes, she'd been kept in some kind of cage or another most her life, but that fate had been much better than this one.

Back then, in her _other_ cage, the feral would have scoffed at the idea she could become so...friendly, with a captor, her kidnapper. Even trust him to a certain extent and to, almost come to rely on him. But back then she'd at least had contact with others, brief, sporadic moments of human interaction that wasn't simply physical torture. Not to mention enough food and a few warm blankets.

Now she lived in a world of shades of gray. The man who carried her from her forest and taken her to this awful place was currently the only person left who seemed to care about her, even just a little bit. And she could not bare to turn away the only kindness she now saw, was given or received. She could not make herself reject that little scrap of humanity Dukes offered her.

His visits kept her sane in between the medical torture she went through. The experiments and tests and the poking and prodding. The cutting. The burning. The poisons. The surgeries. The needles. Men in pristine white lab coats learned she could survive being shot, stabbed, burned, drowned and poisoned, as well as massive internal trauma and hemorrhaging. Long term starvation and dehydration did not appear to kill her off either, though no one knew about Dukes' mercy visits. Infections could give her a fever, cause delirium, but the fever seemed to burn out the sickness after a few days. The white coats also discovered that while she could heal from anything they threw at her, so far, weakness or preexisting injuries would slow her regenerative abilities. A compound leg fracture had taken less than an hour to heal when she first arrived. Now after months of abuse and neglect, it took a few days. The healing hurt much more than normal as well, as if her mutation was struggling to work.

The female feral's eyes lost their vitality and her hair no longer shone like melted chocolate. Her body stopped healing the more minor injuries she received and now only manifested when there was severe trauma, even then taking much longer than usual to respond.

She was dying.


	3. Victor: A Monster Frozen in Time

**A/N: Still don't own anything besides my OFC. Please review and remember this Victor is OOC on purpose, so no flames!**

Chapter 3

Victor: A Monster Frozen in Time

Whatever that tantalizing aroma _wasn't_, it most certainly _was_ driving Victor mad.

At first he had brushed it off, it was so faint anyway there was no way to identify it. But as the weeks turned into months, Victor began to pay attention whenever he got another hint of sweetness. He noticed that it seemed to be carried by several different people at different times. Sometimes he'd walk past some of the doctors who scurried around the base and catch a whiff of that honeyed aroma mixed with equal parts fear and rage. Other times it would be Dukes who carried remnants of the alluring scent, though on him it was never accompanied by the bitter scent of blood and pain like with the scientists. Instead with him, there was a tinge of sadness, resignation. That's when Victor got _really_ curious.

He followed Dukes one night. Watched how he went into the subbasement of the compound, down tunnels and around corners until he walked through an unmarked steel door. The male feral waited in the shadows until the Blob left the room about 10 minutes later, looking worried and conflicted. Victor chuckled silently, _Dukes shouldn't think so hard, his brain's likely to fry. _

As the other mutant walked past the feral's hiding spot, a wave of the mysterious scent hit him, knocking all thoughts from Victor's mind. He had to open the door his teammate just came through. Not because he wanted to, but because he **had** to.

The battle hardened soldier opened the door even before he realized he had stepped forward. The wonderful, elusive, addictive scent that he'd been searching for hit him full in the face. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply to savor it, memorize it. It was like peaches. Peaches and sunshine and **home**. He stepped into the room and his stomach dropped when he opened his eyes. He felt cold all over and he couldn't breathe. A monster frozen in time.

In the center of the plain steel room was a wire cage, perhaps four feet long, three feet wide and four feet tall. It was a cage for a very large dog, perhaps a St. Bernard or Bull Mastiff. But instead of a dog, a woman was in the cage. Victor could see that even though she was just a lil' bit, the cage was still too small for her to either stand up straight or fully lay down. The young woman had long curling brown hair that hid her face. She was on her side, her arms holding her knees to her chest and the thin, gray cotton rags she wore just barely rose and fell with each struggling breath she took. He could see she was too thin and that her skin was mottled with old and new bruises, as well as cuts and scrapes, just like an apple from the bottom of a barrel.

And she had claws. Delicate, shiny black claws where pearly pink toenails and fingernails should have been.

_She's a feral. _Was the only thing Victor's stunned brain could muster. Then, _Jimmy can't know. _


	4. Broken?

**A/N: Thanks to Tulip Tea for favoriting and reviewing, great name by the way. Also a big ole thank you to IsabelleBlue and Gothicpug for reviewing, they've written some of my favorite stories! Also thanks to AnimeOtakuBara, Fire Black Dragon and jimmysdeathgirl for signing up for story alerts! You're all bad asses in my book.**

**Again I do not own anything Sabertooth or X-Men related, only my OFC and the plot. Also, I am fully aware that Victor may be OOC in ****The Feral****, this is an AU of Origins. Oh and from here on out, watch out for naughty language and other adult things (such as the mentioned rape in this chapter), I'm not turning him into a house cat after all.**

_**Italics**_ **= Thoughts (and occasionally emphasis)**

Chapter 4

Broken?

Victor crept forward slowly, his nostrils flaring, filling his lungs his her scent. Mixed in with the smells of summertime was a heady dose of fear, pain, long simmering anger and something else, something he didn't recognize, or know how to name. Perhaps...Hope?

Creed felt strange too. Way too...accepting and detached, numb almost.

_What the fuck is goin' on?_

She didn't acknowledge his arrival or presence, but he could tell from her tensed muscles that she was awake. The male feral knew she'd been there at least four, maybe five or more months. He wasn't able to remember the exact time he'd first caught a hint of her, but he'd started really paying attention maybe about 3 months ago. Looking at the huddle form, Victor recognized the sight of a long abused woman. Fuck, he'd done worse himself.

But he couldn't tell if she'd been broken. He'd need to see her eyes for that. Though the scent of recent anger was a good sign she hadn't been. Yet.

It wasn't until later on that the man called Sabertooth realized how fucked up his reaction had been. What he shoulda done was tear her from that goddamn kennel and fuck her before beating the life damn near outta her. Or maybe beat her, then fuck her. His beast shoulda broken free the second he saw her, a female of his kind.

But it didn't.

The animal was quiet, both man and beast shocked into dumbfounded silence. He'd never seen a female feral before. Sure they were out there, but they were hard to find since they almost always got claimed by the first male to come across 'em. Male ferals were...possessive of their mates, it was the animal in 'em.

_Jimmy's the one who knows all about that mating bullshit, not me._

Victor crouched by the cage. Close, but not close enough for her to feel threatened. He knew what it felt like to be in a cage. Vulnerable. Powerless. And pissed off.

"You got a name, frail?" Creed rumbled out awkwardly, trying for the first time in his miserable existence NOT to be scary.

_She's so...little. _

The female said nothing, didn't even change her breathing pattern. Maybe she _was_ broken. Now he felt the stirrings of anger.

_They fucking broke her. THEY FUCKING BROKE HER! I'll mother fuckin' kill- _

He broke off the internal roar mid sentence when he noticed the female's head tilt ever so slightly, allowing a few messy cedar colored curls to part and reveal one shining, silver eye.


	5. Meeting

**A/N: Again do not own anything that big important people already own. **

**_Italics_ = Thoughts or emphasis**

Chapter Five

Meeting

She'd heard him come in of course, but she wouldn't give this new one the satisfaction of looking up. He was _below_ her notice. He was one of Them and she was above all of this, above him. But then her beast scented him and recognized something. He smelled of wildness and woods and strength. She'd overhead the white coats talking about males like her, other ferals, often speaking of two brothers in particular. She wondered if he was one of the brothers.

Then he spoke, asked her name and she heard in his voice that he had killed. That he could be very, very dangerous. Yet she also heard that, _He was trying to sound...non threatening?_ It was like he wasn't sure how to do that though. She couldn't help it, she was curious for the first time in she didn't know how long and so she tilted her head to let a few strands of her dirty hair move away from her right eye.

A chord struck something inside her and it she knew nothing would be the same again. This man, this beast, would forever change her life. She wasn't scared for some bizarre reason though. Something settled in her chest and it was like a piece of some puzzle had finally snapped into place.

_My name, he asked my name didn't he?_

"What is yours?" The female feral managed to whisper out, she was even able to make it sound like a challenge.

Victor smirked, only slightly though, so as not to frighten her. He chose not to linger and think on why he didn't want to scare her.

"Victor." He looked expectantly into the moon colored eye.

"Lupa. They call me Lupa."

oOo

**A/N: Please review if you want the story to continue! I need some inspiration please.**


	6. Laugh or Scream

**A/N: Thank you Tulip Tea and Gothicpug for reviewing again! And thanks Super Lion for giving the story a try, let me know what you think about the new story description, better? Luna015, you rock for favoriting this! Animagirl333, Trekkie Fan Marvel and Tsuki no Yasha you are all so very cool for putting this on your alert list, thanks. Hope everyone is still liking the story, please PM or review with any ideas! Also I do not own anything that you recognize, very rich people do.**

Chapter Six

Laugh or Scream

"Are you with Them?" The figure asked him, the capital T implied.

He could still only see one starry eye underneath a mass of tangled hair. He knew what she was really asking, _Am I some kind of prisoner or am I their trained pet? Am I here to hurt her?_

He didn't break eye contact. "I'm off the clock." _I'm with them cause they pay me, it's a job. But I'm not here cause of them, I'm not here to hurt you for them_, he answers her silent questions.

"Why's Dukes been coming here ta see ya?" Victor growled more than spoke. He could smell that dumb fuck in the room, her scent tainted by his. He didn't like it. Then, she laughed.

Lupa sat up slowly and leaned against the wires of the cage, her legs in a sidesaddle position. Really, she couldn't help laughing, she could smell the jealousy on him and for some reason the ridiculousness of a stranger getting green-eyed over Dukes just hit her. She sighed, now gently chuckling. She looked away from Victor's water colored eyes.

"He comes to me for love advice. What kind of flowers girls like. What to say to them. Translate what they say to him," Lupa smiled bitterly.

"He carried me away from my forest and helped lock me in this cage. He sneaks in food and water when they keep decide to keep it from me. He pities me." Here she paused and looked back at the male feral. "But not enough to save me."


	7. Secrets & Plans

**A/N: Don't own Victor Creed or anything from the comics or movies, just a fangirl. Thanks to Fire Black Dragon, here's your more! ;-]**

Chapter Seven

Secrets and Plans

The animal who dreamt he was a man and awoke to find the dream become real, saw her face clearly when she sat up. Pale skin, long sooty eyelashes and twin white scars that rested just below and followed the line of her high cheekbones. They were long slash marks that curled inwards at the corners of her eyes. A flourish, a personal signature from the one who marked her. The scars ended an inch or so short of lips that were chapped and cracked, lips that as she laughed revealed a set of white fangs longer than Victor's own.

As Lupa spoke and told him or her and Dukes' relationship the animal in Creed relaxed.

_Not competition. What a fucking pussy. Brings her in an' starts his own kinda torture. Keepin' her alive jus' so she can wake up every day here. Be better ta kill her or get her out, not fuckin' _tease _her like this. Fuckin' dumb ass Dukes probably don't even know what he's doin' ta her. Now Jimmy, Jimmy'd've grabbed her the second he opened that door and run for the hills, maybe get caught, but maybe not. _

Normally Creed was a man without a plan. But something inside of him didn't even let him consider acting in haste for a second. This was important. This was his Mate. Even if she didn't know it yet, she was **his** and he had do this right. Jimmy's way might work but it'd mean they'd always have to be on the lookout for Stryker and his men. That was not acceptable. Cubs needed safety and he was sure Lupa would want 'em some day, didn't all frails? He'd give her what she needed. What she wanted. He had too, it was biologically programmed into him, into all feral males. That was being a mate and something inside of him would not let him even consider failing.

"I'm gonna to get you out. Gotta do it right though, Frail. Gotta have a plan first." He paused and smirked, "Think you can stay alive for a bit longer?" Victor asked in a cold, almost mocking tone, one that didn't even hint at what he had just been thinking.

"Why would you help me? What's in it for you, Victor?"

_Ah, the way she says our name_, his beast purred internally.

"Gettin' bored here. Pay's good but I don't like secrets bein' kept from me, an' they kept you hidden from both me an' the Runt. Kept you a secret cause they didn't think they could trust us. Well, they were right."

oOo

**A/N: I've decided to be cruel and will not update until I've reached a grand total of 15 reviews! Why? Because I can and apparently I channel Victor when I write, sorry. Plus I'm at 12 reviews now, ;-)**


	8. Jimmy & Frederick J Dukes

**A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you to **

**Bulmania, Black Fire Dragon, Super Lion (if you have any ideas or suggestions or anything really lemme know! I love getting advice and ideas! And a 2nd thanks for the description idea, glad you like it!), PunkMutantGargoyleChica (1st off, great name. 2Nd, yeah I think if Victor wants something badly enough he'd be willing to do what it took to keep it, plus it's kinda written into his DNA to be nice, well Victor nice, to his mate), IsabelleBlue (*throwing confetti* Hurrah! Thanks for being my lucky number 15 and all your wonderful reviews! Hope this chapter answers some of your questions), and last but not least, Kathalla (seriously, I don't get people who _don't_ love Victor!).**

**Also, the things/characters that other people own...are owned by other people. *Ahem***

Chapter Eight

Jimmy & Frederick J. Dukes

"Logan? You in there?" Dukes tentatively knocked on the partly opened door to the feral brothers' room.

"Yeah, I'm here." A voice called from inside, "Come on in."

Jimmy was sitting on his bed flipping through an old copy of Wades' _Sports Illustrated _(swimsuit edition). He tossed it aside when Dukes lumbered into his room. The feral noticed the indecision and worry painted on the other man's face, "Somethin' on your mind, bub?"

Apparently that was all the encouragement he needed.

"Logan, I gotta tell ya something you're not gonna like. Stryker took me an' Zero out for a mission while you an' Creed were on leave 'bout six months back. Stryker ordered us not to tell you two 'bout it. We took a feral. A female feral." Dukes had been speaking slowly and pausing in between sentences as was his custom, but he rushed out his next words. "They're experimentin' on her, Jimmy, torturin' her an' callin' it science! I've been helpin' her as much as I can but she needs to get out. Soon. An' I need your help getting' her out." He had to look away from Logan then.

_Huh. Never thought that expression made much sense but if Freddy had a feather I'm pretty sure he could knock me over with it_.

"Wh-what?" Jimmy managed out after a few moments. "A female feral? Here? Why you tellin' me? Why you tellin' me this _now_?" While he was shocked, Logan was getting angry, quickly.

_A female! One like us and Stryker's lab rats have been experimentin' on her underneath our goddamn noses? Fuck!...Shit, how do I tell Victor? _Do _I tell Victor?_

"'Cause I think she's dying, Jimmy!" If Dukes hadn't looked so goddamn earnest right then Logan woulda popped him for using his Christian name a second time uninvited. Only his brother could call him that.

"She can heal, as fast as you or Creed. But even with the A-rations* I've been sneaking her, her body can't keep up with what they're doin' to her! I didn't tell ya right away cause I wasn't sure how you'd take it. And you two'd only been with the team for six months then. Plus Stryker made it pretty clear neither of ya were supposed to be told."

Dukes took a shuddering breath. He felt relief at sharing his secret. He'd told her that he wouldn't help her escape, but that was before. When she had..._life_ in her eyes. He couldn't explain it but he knew if he didn't get her out she'd die. And then something...important, inside of him would die too.

"What's her name?"

"Lupa."

oOo

**A/N:**

***A-ration is a term used in the U.S. armed forces for a meal provided to troops which is made using fresh, refrigerated, or frozen foods prepared in the field by the use of field kitchens, or prepared at a fixed facility and transported to field locations in containers.**


	9. In Exchange

Chapter Nine

In Exchange

"What do you want in return?" Lupa ventured with hard suspicion in her stare. She was fairly certain she already knew what he wanted, but might as well make him say it. Get it out in the open to avoid, confusion later.

Victor noticed that her eyes had changed from a pale silver to a darker flint color. _Sexy,_ Sabertooth growled in his head.

"Nothin' that you won't give me freely." He smirked.

Though the words could almost be construed as reassuring, after all, his implication was he wouldn't rape her, the tone held a warning and she could likewise hear the _suggestion_ behind it.

_Confident bastard. _"I won't give you that."

"We'll see."

He sat down on the cement floor. Despite his naturally elevated body temperature, Creed could tell it was cold in the cell. Lupa wasn't shivering but he spied goosebumps dotting her exposed skin.

"Healing's slowing down, ain't it? Now it's only comin' out when they hurt ya real bad, right? Bet ya can't stay warm either." He paused and let his eyes roam over her battered form, "Can you walk?"

"Today, yes." She said flatly.

Both Victor and Sabertooth bristled at that. Who knew what tomorrow would bring for her.

"I gotta make a plan. Yer job's ta stay alive. Keep your strength, don't fight 'em. I'll be back tomor-"

The male feral whipped his head towards the door and growled. He rose to his feet and quickly stalked over to place his body between Lupa's cage and the cell's only door. Claws extended and fangs bared Victor prepared to protect his mate. Indignant rage radiated off him and his higher brain slipped into the passenger seat while the primal part took over at the wheel. He wasn't exactly thinking clearly or rationally, just reacting in an instinctual manner – a less than useful characteristic of the feral gene.

_Fuck makin' a plan, no choice but to get her out now._ He and his beast relished the thought of ripping apart the white coats who'd been torturing their frail. How fucking dare they? NO ONE could touch her! She belonged to THEM and THEM ONLY.

He tensed, ready to spring, as the door swung open...

oOo

**A/N: Aw, come on! You didn't think I'd give it away just yet, did you? I told you I channel Victor's cruel side when I write...Muwahahaha! *Cough, Cough* Sorry, don't know what got into me.**


	10. Feral 101

**A/N: Thanks Papersoul, StrawberryxXxKisses for putting this on alerts! And thanks to Kathalla putting The Feral on her faves list! Hope this chapter answers some questions!**

Chapter Ten

Feral 101

They'd been talking for about an hour before Dukes finally asked the question that had been bugging him since the beginning. "Why doesn't Stryker want either of you to know about her? Is it just cause she's a lady feral?"

Logan snorted. "From what I've found out from talkin' to other male ferals over the years," he sighed a bit, not liking to share something this...personal with a fellow soldier. He cleared his throat and started over, "We all have Mates. It's part of bein' a feral or something. There's only one for each of us, sorta like...soul mates, I guess, but written in the genes. But sometimes, if a certain kind of male finds a female like us, he'll try to claim her, even if she's not..._his_."

Before Dukes could ask Logan continued, "I'm not sure what that exactly means. I was told true mates would recognize each other, like instant connection. But if a 'lady feral' gets taken by a male not her mate he'll still try to make her his. It's some kind of biological drive, even though they both supposedly can feel it's _wrong_ or something like that. The guy I talked to who seemed ta know the most, said that even the meanest, hardest, most bad ass feral he'd ever met wasn't able to hurt his true mate. Said that when our kind finds the right female something switches on in our brains, makes us take care of her, protect her. _Love_ her maybe. The man also said that he'd once seen a female who'd been claimed by a feral that wasn't her real mate. Said the male tried ta take good care of her at first, but she ended up dying. The male beat her to death. Bashed her skull ta pieces one day cause she was so sad all the time. He knew she didn't belong to him and it drove him crazy."

Logan hadn't talked this much in a while. Normally he was a guy of few words. He cleared his throat again, "That's why Stryker don't want Victor and me to know. He's afraid we'd kill him fer not tellin' us and then we'd fight each other over the girl. Probably figured at the very least he'd lose one of us. Either Victor or myself if we got wind of her. Best not chance it."

"It's a good thing Victor wasn't napping when I came in, huh then?" Dukes tried to lighten the mood. Now it was his turn to pause awkwardly. "If I take you to her, can you...can you control yourself?"

"Yeah. Even if she's my mate my first priority's getting her outta here."

"What if she's not your mate. You'll still help her? You wouldn't...claim her?" The Blob questioned.

"Yeah, I'll still help. And no, I wouldn't claim her unless she were Mine. I wouldn't take another man's mate. 'Sides, even if she wasn't like me, no one deserves ta go through what you said they're puttin' her through."

Logan rose and looked expectantly at Dukes, "Let's go. I need ta see how bad she's off, it'll affect the escape plan. By the way, **nobody** calls me _Jimmy_ but Victor. Got it?"

The taller mutant gulped at the fierce expression on the feral's face. "Got it."

oOo

**A/N: Nope, you don't get to find out who's on the other side of Lupa's cell door til I reach 20 overall reviews! Is it Jimmy and Dukes? Or a scientist coming to check on his pet? Maybe a soldier? Tune in to find out!**


	11. Crossing Paths

**A/N: Wow! Didn't think I'd get to 20 reviews that fast! You guys are really awesome. Thank you for all the reviews, it really means a lot! As always I don't own nothing but Lupa and the story.**

Chapter Eleven

Crossing Paths

The reinforced steel door opened slowly, gradually revealing a ferocious looking Victor apparently guarding an empty cement room. Silence reigned. The mutants entering finally noticed that behind the beast standing before them, was a wire cage half hidden by the signature black coat. Logan could hear a fourth heartbeat in the cell.

"What you doin' here Runt?" Creed was ignoring Dukes who stood mute next to Jimmy.

It was said quietly, but in a warning tone Jimmy'd heard his older brother use many a time over the decades. This was the first time he'd ever heard Victor direct it toward him though.

_This was Bad. Time to diffuse the situation._ "Is she as bad off as Dukey says?" Silently he tried to will Victor to understand him. _Now is not the time. Later. Not in front of her. More important shit ta take care of now._

Miraculously it seemed to work. The Sabertooth relaxed his stance a bit. But he seemed coiled to pounce, possessive protectiveness in every trembling muscle he forced still.

"Wouldn't rightly know, now would I, little brother, seein' as '_Dukey'_ went to you an' not me."

_OK, maybe it didn't work, _the Runt idly thought.

"Victor."

Her voice was soft but firm in its appeal. Not pleading or scolding or admonishing. She'd only said his name, yet it seemed to do something to the enormous feral. He retracted his claws as far as he ever did and stood straighter, a hint of a smirk on his face now too.

"'M not so sure 'bout Dukes, but I know _you_ weren't born in a barn, Jimmy. Close the fuckin' door behind ya. Want an audience or somethin'?" Once the great steel door was again shut, Victor moved his body a bit to allow the other two men to have a look at the woman in the cage.

"How you doing?" Dukes didn't wait for an answer from the woman before he continued on, "We're gonna get you out. Me and Logan and Creed. Don't worry Wolfgirl."

Before the only non feral in the room knew what was what, Creed had him by the throat and off the ground by at least six inches.

"Her name's not _Wolfgirl._ It's **Lupa**." Victor snarled.

oOo

**A/N: Previous chapter thank you's:**

**Mandya1313- I know, right? Joking. ;-]**

**Tulip Tea- LOVE your reviews! Your questions give me ideas! It's awesome!**

**Kathalla- You'll know soon enough my pretty!**

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**Kerributterfly17- Hope you stay hooked!**

**Benezuela- Hope you like the update**

**Marauding Vampire- I'll be getting in more detail regarding Vic and Lupa's relationship soon.**

**ReprimandedAngel, NightStalkerBlade, JadedDeviant, thisrottenkiss, kikikiki, iamnotcrazy, and Coffeelvr72 for putting this on your alerts and/ or favorite lists!**


	12. Introductions

Chapter Twelve

Introductions

"Her name's not _Wolfgirl_. It's **Lupa**. She's not some kind of freak!" Victor growled out as he held Dukes up in the air.

"Victor. He didn't mean anything by it. 'The Wolf Girl' is what they called me in the circus. I told him a story about it once." She paused to catch her breath, her strength was waning, "Will you, will you introduce me to this Jimmy Runt?"

Again hearing her say his name calmed both man and animal and he lowered his teammate back down to earth. But as soon as she asked to meet Logan, Creed seized up again.

_NO! She can't meet Jimmy. She'll want him instead! He'll take her away. She's MINE! The Runt'll get all noble and say I can't be trusted with a frail! He can't fucking have her! _Victor's racing, scattered thoughts stalled abruptly when he heard his Lupa's voice again.

"I would like to meet the one you call brother, Victor."

_She wants ta meet him cause he's my brother? She wants to meet him cause he's my brother. Huh. She called him Jimmy Runt too, didn't she? Heh, heh. _Suddenly he was filled with his usual confidence and bravado.

"Jimmy Runt, this is Lupa. Lupa this is Jimmy Runt." Creed wasn't able to suppressed a delighted smirk at the barb. "Jimmy's my little brother. He'll help us. Won'tcha Runt?" He bared his fangs a bit more in self satisfaction as he forcefully slapped the smaller feral's shoulder. "Now you two, get out. Me and the frail got some talkin' to do. I'll meet up with ya in a bit."

"Scientists usually do a check up on her at oh-three-hundred," Dukes mumbled as he and Logan started to leave the barren cell.

"Don't you worry about me Dukey, I can take care of m'self." The door closed behind the Blob and Logan just as Victor finished speaking.

"Now...Tell me 'bout the circus, frail."

oOo

**Oh-Three-Hundred (0300) – That's 3 AM for the Americans and non military readers.**


	13. Circuses & Cars

Chapter Thirteen

Circuses and Cars

"Now...Tell me 'bout the circus, frail," The Sabertooth rumbled.

Lupa shivered at his ominous tone. She's seen how his brother reacted to that voice: immediate submission and placation. _Practically fell on his back and showed Victor his belly*. _What would he do to her if he didn't like her answers? Even though she seemed to have succeeded earlier in...calming him somewhat, the Wolfgirl knew she'd be a fool not to be afraid. Very afraid. Her animal may recognize him, respond to him, but that didn't mean she was a _zevzec._ He could kill her at anytime just because he might feel like it.

Lupa hated to admit the mixture of fear, curiosity and confidence that was swirling inside of her was intoxicating. Arousing even. Especially when she breathed in his scent. Viciously, she clamped down on her emotions. _Focus you stupid girl! He wants to know about the circus!_ The female chastised herself.

"No one ever told me how I came to be there. If they found me, if someone abandoned me or if they bought me. Perhaps the knowledge was lost after a generation or two...My first memories are of the circus. It was a traveling Gypsy circus. I was part of the show. We mostly stayed in eastern Europe, occasionally straying as far west as Germany or Italy. The barkers called me the Wolfgirl. I could hear them tempting the crowds to buy a ticket to see the girl raised by wolves. In some towns they said I'd been found in a forest with my leg caught in a wolf trap. Another story went that I was the result of an Indian squaw being raped by a wolf in the American Wild West. I never understood how those crowds could overlook my fair skin and curling hair if I was supposed to the child of an Indian. The power of what people want to believe...What they are told is true."

"In other places they said hunters found me viciously guarding four wolf cubs in a den." She smiled, "That story was my favorite...I was part of the freak show, actually had better quarters than this hell hole. More food as well. I managed to get away after some time. A long time. Almost six generations of gypsies."

"After I ran I found a forest where I could be safe. Or I thought I could be. I think it was in Russia. Stayed there for perhaps 20 winters until _They_ started tracking me. I'm still not sure how Stryker found me. Or how he found out about me. But he did. When I first got here Dukes told me he wouldn't help me escape, wouldn't risk his spot on the team. But then he started bringing me food. Without me asking for it either."

She looked Victor straight in the eye through the wires of her cage, daring him to judge her for her next words. He always did like a challenge.

"In the very beginning I begged him to help me. I did. Later, I bit and clawed at him whenever he got close enough. And he still kept coming, sneaking in those god awful A-rations. Then I ignored him, wouldn't talk to him or look at him. So he started to speak to me, talk about his latest true love or heartbreak."

"I know-I know it makes me weak but I couldn't turn him away after all that. He kept coming and now he says you all will help me. After all that and I didn't even end up needing him. _You_ came." Lupa's eyes fluttered shut as she sighed those last two words. The scars that started at her chapped lips and curled inward by her eyes shone in the fluorescent light. She wore a slight smile.

Victor contemplated the dark haired female curled in the kennel before him. _She said she didn't need Dukes or Jimmy. That she got you. __**You**__. Good ta know she's smart enough ta recognize I'm all she needs._ Her words pleased Victor more than anything had in, well, longer than he could remember.

He decided he liked her battle scars on her face. Made her look...Wild. Sexier. He knew he'd have to wait to get that particular story outta her though, but sooner or later he'd find out who marked her and return the favor tenfold.

_Looks dead on her feet. Her skin's even whiter than it was earlier. She needs ta sleep. I need to plan. My mate's not gonna stay here a fucking second longer than necessary. Yeah, I like the sound of that. **My** mate. **Mine**._

With her slipping into sleep Creed figured he'd maybe be able to get one more question in. "How old are ya, frail?"

"I'm not sure. Didn't exactly keep track..." She was mumbling now, "But, I can remember, _before_ cars. Before there were cars, I mean." His mate was mostly asleep as she asked a question of her own, "What year is it anyway?"

Now it was the other brother's turn to become intimately acquainted with the aptness of the phrase "knock me over with a feather." Luckily Lupa was asleep as soon as she finished asking.

oOo

**A/N: Hope you like the new chapters, the story's picking up the pace a bit I think. Please review if you want a speedy update!**

***Dogs expose their undersides to show submission before a more dominant creature, either another dog or a human.**

Zevzec – Romani word for idiot.


	14. Walking & Thinking & Hoping

**A/N: Still don't own anything except Lupa and the plot. Here's a Jimmy chapter, a long one too! Hope everyone likes it! :-]**

Chapter 14

_Walking and Thinking and Hoping_

Walking back to his room with Dukes, Logan wasn't sure he could name all the different emotions that were currently swirling around in his gut. But if he had to take a guess, he'd say he felt mostly sad. Sad cause he knew Lupa wasn't his mate. She was Victor's. That made him 'mostly sad' for several reasons. One was because even though he had told himself not to get his hopes up, he _had_ gotten his hopes up and hoped by some miracle that Dukes' mystery feral turned out to be his mate. He'd known as soon as they opened the door that she wasn't. Her scent was alluring and sweet and his animal had recognized her as being kindred, but Logan felt no jolt in his heart or instant connection like that damn other feral told him about years ago.

The second reason was his fear over losing his brother, the only constant thing in his life during the past century and more. Victor had never spoken to him in that killer voice like he had in that cell. In the past the person who it was directed at had always died soon after hearing it. And Victor had never stayed on high alert with claws and teeth bared the way he had even after seeing it was his brother in the doorway. Like he had stayed until _she_ said his name.

_The way he'd blocked our view of the female, guardin' her, loomin' over her cage like the stuff outta nightmares. Ready an' willin' to protect her from whoever walked through that door. Guarding some 'frail' he'd just met. Victor doesn't DO that! _Logan practically sputtered internally.

The little brother in Logan felt confused , a little abandoned and slightly jealous. The man felt a bone deep loneliness knowing that no matter what happened next, his relationship with his brother, his partner, was irrecoverably changed. Victor was changed somehow. Protecting her proved that. Standing down for her proved that perhaps even more.

The third reason Logan was sad because he was afraid he'd have to take Lupa away from Victor, help her escape him someday. He couldn't be sure this _change_ would last. Victor couldn't be trusted with a female, not even a feral, maybe especially a feral. Frankly, he was shocked that Victor hadn't ripped open the cage the second he found her and either A, rape her, B, take off with her killing anyone and everyone in his path, or C, all of the above.

_He didn't though, _Logan grudgingly admitted_. But can he _keep _protectin' her from himself? Eventually he'll lose control and hurt her, maybe kill her._

Jimmy's brother wasn't like any of the others like them he'd met during their decades traveling, soldiering, and they'd run into a few (they'd even come across a reptilian feral whose skin could change colors like a chameleon). But he'd never met another like them who gave in to the animal as much as Victor did. Who was so uncontrollable in the midst of blood lust. So..._wild_.

_Lupa's body could probably heal most anything Creed would throw at her, but would her mind? Her spirit? And yet...the way he'd calmed down when she'd said his name. He'd almost looked...serene for a second._

No one had ever gotten Victor to back down before. Ever. Yet she had, just by speaking his name in a hoarse quiet little voice. Logan had barely gotten a glimpse of the girl, Lupa, because of how fast his damn brother had ushered them out after the introductions.

_'__Jimmy Runt,' my ass. He had a good laugh at that one. Which is weird. He switched from an almost blood rage to mocking amusement so goddamn quick._

Dukes and him were rounding the final corner to the brothers' room, neither had spoken since the Blob warned Sabertooth about the 3 AM guard check. They stopped outside a wooden door and Logan spoke before the taller mutant could. "Go to bed. I'll talk to ya tomorrow. Me and Victor have to talk and it'll be best you're not around. Got it bub?"

Jimmy opened his door and shut it as Dukes nodded then turned and walked away without a word, a blank expression on his face. He sat on his bed which was parallel to Victor's own. A sparse room that really wasn't much different in construction from 'The Wolf Girl's' cell. Just better decorated. Heated too.

_How had she gotten Victor to calm down like that? Was it a 'mate thing'?_ Logan wondered. _Would he always react to her voice like that? Could maybe Lupa be the exception to the rule that was Victor Creed? She's already got him doing things he's never done before and got 'em acting as protective as he was I when was a sickly little brat._

Jimmy told himself not to be hope, but hope is like light creeping into a dark room from underneath the crack of a closed door, it cannot be reasoned with, it simply _is_. Logan sat on the bed waiting for his older brother to return from his mate.

oOo

**A/N: Thank you to:**

**Kathalla- You're a doll! Thanks for another wonderful review.**

**Gothicpub- Thanks for the compliment! Love love love your writing!**

**Kerributterfly17- Here's your update, sorry it wasn't that speedy! ;-]**

**Certh- Glad you like the plot! I'm happy you think it 'flows,' thank you! :-D**

**Nessie-Fan- Here's a longer chapter just for you! ;-]**

**Tulip Tea- I hereby present you with the Most Faithful Review Award. Thank you for your inspiring comments!**

**Mandya1313- Hope you keep liking it!**

**Benezuela- Thanks for the review! :-D**

**Obscure Stranger- So happy you're enjoying the story, thanks for the compliment! :-)**

**And thanks to Trekkie907, Fyrefly (HUGE fan of yours!), Ms-Lady-Phoenix, IrishxEyes, Dynasty Artemis and Clear Skye for putting this on their alerts/favorites! All of you guys are cooler than the other side of the pillow.**


	15. Courage

**A/N: I own nothing that belongs to other, rich, people. Lupa and the plot are mine alone. Not sure how much I like this chapter, it's kind of a filler, but again the plot bunnies made me type it out before they stopped bouncing around in my head. **

Chapter 15

Courage

_She don't know how old she is, but she remembers 'before cars.' Doesn't know what year it is and doesn't seem none too worried 'bout it neither. _He watched her sleep still leaning against the back of her cage, sitting halfway up. _Suppose it's a good thing she's not the hysterical type. Any mate of mine needs ta be made of stronger stuff than that._

Victor took the time to study his woman. She looked to be a little shorter than average, maybe 5'2" or 5'3" though he couldn't be sure until he got her out of the kennel. Her chocolate curls hung in tangled knots down to her waist, and for the first time in his life Victor noticed that a woman's hair needed brushing. Besides the scars on Lupa's cheekbones, her face was pleasing to look at. She wasn't stunning or beautiful, but he could tell she'd be pretty once he got her fixed up. The claws on her hands and feet were almost identical to his own, black and sharp-looking only smaller.

Even though he'd never admit it, Victor had been impressed with Lupa's strength from the beginning. She hadn't cried or begged or weakly submitted to him. She'd challenged him, only giving him her name for his own. Dared him to mock her when she told him she had begged Dukes to help her escape when she first got locked in her cage. And he hadn't been able to. Didn't even want to. Victor had looked into her reflective silver eyes and saw what it cost her to admit to that, to a stranger, to a fellow feral. To keep his blue gaze and confess that she'd begged for her freedom.

In his most secret heart of hearts Creed knew he wasn't brave. How could someone, something, like him be? His body would heal itself from almost any injury and his enhanced speed, strength and five senses made him far superior to human soldiers. Not to mention his claws and fangs, natural, permanently attached weapons that ensured he was never caught unarmed. How could the indestructible be brave? Fuck, he didn't even feel fear anymore.

But Victor had seen courage, seen it on the faces of fellow soldiers who had stormed the beaches of Normandy even though they knew if their heavy packs didn't drown them coming off the boat, Nazi bullets would probably get 'em. He saw it on Logan's face when Jimmy'd stopped him from killing a frail villager in Vietnam. Logan had been scared, scared of his own damn brother, but he'd stopped Victor from butchering the woman. Creed wasn't sure what the Runt had been scared of though. If he'd been scared that Sabertooth had finally lost it, that his older brother snapped and was now trapped in a permanent blood rage, or was he scared of what Victor had been about to do. Scared that he wouldn't be able to stand by his older brother like he had for 150 years if Victor had mauled and raped an innocent bystander.

Fear and courage are linked because without fear there is no true courage. He could see that Lupa walked hand in hand with both.

oOo

**A/N: Thank you to the following wonderful people:**

**FyreFly- Glad you like the concept, really love your writing!**

**Trekkie907- Hope you continue to like the story, thanks for the great review!**

**Nessie-Fan- Glad you like that it was Logan's POV, I was a little worried about it.**

**Kathalla- LOL, Manimal. Yeah, manimals have feelings too, right?**

**Mandya1313- Here's another update, hope it was fast!**

**Niffer- Yeah, I've read other stories where there's the mate concept and I always got frustrated at how quickly the chick like, gives in. And no Victor will not be a ooey gooey mate at all, he's Victor Fucking Creed after all.**

**Tulip Tea- Don't worry, Victor's "soft" side will come into play soon enough, though of course it'll be Victor style soft. And if I see Jimmy I'll send him your way!**

**Also thanks to WalkingEnigma, Sesshoumaru-LiL-Wolfe, Poplar-Kat, Nicklepickle, lucia royster, and HLBabi for putting this on alerts/favorites!**

**Please please please review, it helps me write and update sooner!**


	16. Zippers & Fear

**A/N: I own nothing. It's quite sad really.**

Chapter 16

Zippers and Fear

He walked into their shared room and saw his younger brother sitting on his bed. The elder brother took off his signature black overcoat and his heavy black boots. The boots were custom made for him, they had more room for the claws on his feet as well as zippers along with laces. He'd picked up the zipper trick from a medic in Hanoi he'd met some years back, maybe 1968? No, early '69. Victor hadn't been exactly friends with the man, but 'Doc,' as everyone in the forces calls their medic, was a good poker player and not much of a talker. Creed tolerated him better than most. He'd had a strange habit of wearing boots with zippers instead of laces. Creed asked him why and Doc said it was cause he'd once been caught in a shitty situation with his boots off. From then on, he'd wanted boots he could get on quick n' easy and have 'em stay on. Doc got his legs blown off after stepping on an old French landmine* a few weeks later, but Victor took his advice to heart. After all, the boots stayed on the medic's severed feet when they'd finally found them 50 yards apart.

"So I guess...Congratulations?" Logan spoke at last.

Victor somehow snorted and 'humphed' at the same time as he sat on his own bed.

"She's part of the family now, brother. How you want to get her out?" Jimmy looked expectantly at his enormous brother. Victor was easily 6 foot 6 inches, maybe 250, 275 pounds of feral muscle. There was nothing serene about Creed right now, only a sharp, chilling glint in his ice colored eyes. He wore a feral grin, razor sharp fangs peeking out onto his bottom lip. Two deadly white triangles resting on a pale pink lip. Sabertooth was flushed returning from his mate and at the thought of planning an escape. He looked wild and on the cusp of violence.

Logan remembered how he'd overheard his mother talking about Victor. She'd said 'Black hair, black heart.' _Can Lupa survive him?_ Jimmy closed his eyes at the thought but they snapped open when Victor replied.

"Who says I wanna get her out, Runt?" An icy somber gaze was leveled at shocked brown eyes.

The floor dropped out from underneath Logan and he felt like there was a black hole where his guts should be. _He wasn't gonna break her out?_ Then that damn bastard brother of his starting laughing like there was no tomorrow.

"You, you shoulda seen yer face baby brother!" Victor roared out in between hearty bellows of laughter.

"Stop giggling like a goddamn school girl, Vicki!" This only seemed to egg 'Vicki' on further. Finally Creed settled down, red faced and breathing hard.

"'M jus' fuckin' with ya, Jimmy. Now. Tell me everythin' you know about mates." Victor had sobered up and his voice rumbled out again, "I know you and that old bastard, what's his name, Bear, talked about it back in the day."

So Jimmy sat across from his brother on his own bed and told Victor everything he knew.

oOo

Back in Lupa's prison she awoke from a deep sleep. Normally she didn't sleep heavily but her body was exhausted from meeting one feral brother, then another, telling her story and the new found hope of escape. Her internal clock said she should expect her midday visit soon. From behind her, she could hear the door open moments later. She could smell it was the white coats again, not a soldier doing a routine check up on her, perhaps bringing an energy bar. Dukes wasn't the only man who pitied the Wolfgirl. They came into the room and were apparently giving a tour to some important man. Telling the VIP what she was, what she could do and what they hoped for her future: a super soldier. Faster, stronger, longer living and self healing. Weapon IX. Think of the possibilities, they said. If they could breed her...Lupa shifted slightly to warn the humans she was awake before she slowly turned around to face the self-appointed and self-proclaimed masters of her fate.

_Hours Later_

He and Jimmy worked out a plan between the two of 'em. No point in worrying about Blobby-Boy's loyalties, Logan was blood and the only one who could really be trusted. It'd take a few days to put the plan into effect and now Victor was on his way to his Lupa's cell with food and water, it was nearly midnight which meant he had almost three hours with her. He stopped outside her door and inhaled sharply. He could smell her out here in the hallway. Someone had taken her out and then brought her back not too long ago. The rich tang of her blood and sweat hung in the air, not three hours old.

_**WHAT DID THEY DO TO HER? **_

Victor almost ripped the steel door off it's hinges while opening it, he did bend and warp the metal though. What would he find in that cold cement room? What would be left of his mate? For the first time since Jimmy started healing on his own over 100 years ago, Victor felt the icy fingers of fear creeping down his spine.

oOo

***France colonized (read occupied) Vietnam before the Americans got involved in the 1960s. The French had already gone by the time the US arrived, but left behind some unexploded (and hidden) landmines for anyone to find.**

**A/N: Yes, yes, it's a cliffhanger. I would like a few reviews in exchange for an update. Fair deal, right? Special thank ye to:**

**Fyrefly- Yay! I'm happy you appreciated that last chapter, I was worried how it'd go over.**

**Hansolo18- Thanks for signing up for alerts, hope you like the story!**

**Gothicpug- Could you get any cooler if you tried? Thanks for putting **The Feral** on your faves!**


	17. White Coats, Red Hands

**A/N: Don't own nothing but Lupa. Oh and I re-edited chapters 1-4 and added a few new lines, check it out! **

Chapter 17

White Coats, Red Hands

They took her from her cage and brought her to a lab she had not been in before. If the scientists noticed she was more compliant and easier to handle than usual, they said nothing. Lupa was focused on staying alive like Victor had told her to.

_He' said he'd get me out. Him and Dukes and Jimmy Runt. He said he'd be back._ She repeated this in her mind like a mantra, holding onto the strength that hope gave her.

When they first took her from her cell she had briefly considered whether or not Victor had really meant what he'd said the night before. But the Wolfgirl quickly banished the thought before doubt could take hold. She _needed_ to believe he'd return and that she'd be free soon.

_Focus. Just focus on staying alive like he said. If you aren't strong enough to survive whatever they're going to do now, it won't matter if he lied. If he never comes back to you._

Lupa felt a hollowness in her heart when she thought this. She wanted him to return and speak with him again. Maybe get close enough to touch him this time, it had been many weeks since she last had touched another person without physical pain being inflicted. She wondered how it would feel to be close to him, to be in his arms listening to his heartbeat, to feel him breathe. How would he smell with her scent on him? How would their scents smell mixed?

By now the white coats had strapped her to a table and all but one had left the room. The scientist wore sickly-green scrubs, a white mask and white surgical gloves. Lupa knew the gloves wouldn't stay white. His hands would be stained red soon.

He was slowly and precisely laying out shiny silver instruments on a surgical table next to her. Every time he put a new one down, she heard the clink of metal on metal. It was it's own form of torture just listening and watching the man prepare the sharp tools that would shortly be cutting into her. She closed her eyes and tried not to flinch at the sharp, metallic noise.

_Perhaps this time I will be able to go so far into my memories the pain won't reach me. Maybe this time if I concentrate hard enough I won't feel it...I mustn't say his name either. They cannot know he found me or else I'll never escape...And they could hurt him too. Do to him what they're doing to me..._

The Wolfgirl began to retreat into herself, into her mind and memories. She focused on thoughts of the forest in Russia she had been taken from, rather than thinking of Victor. It would lessen the chance of her crying out for him, calling his name.

_Russian winters, the feel of the arctic wind on my face, the crunch of hardening snow and ice under my feet. Thrilling reindeer hunts and the scent of pine trees..._

She felt him make the first cut.

_The hunt! Remember the hunt! What do they smell like? Musky. Deep. Warm. What do they feel like? Soft and coarse at the same ti-_

Another, this one longer.

_And the circus! What was the redheaded Fat Lady called? Back in the '20s, Bertha? Beatrix? _

**Slash.**

_No! That wasn't it!_

**Slice**.

_Bethel! Her name was Bethel and she slipped me food because they always gave her too much so she could stay the Fat Lady..._

**Slit**.

_And she was married! Married to, to...!_

**Pierce.**

_One of the clowns! He was bald and tiny and he always tried to make me laugh._

**Rip**.

_He did once, too. Got me to laugh..._

**Tear**.

Desperately the female feral tried to block out the pain with more remembrances but each inflicted wound was deeper and longer and crueler than the last. Finally the pain broke through Lupa's flimsy, thin illusions. She screamed until her traumatized throat could produce no more sound. Then, when they were finished hours later and carried her through dreary hallways, back to the cell, sweet blackness started creeping upon her and Lupa smiled gently.

_I didn't say his name. I didn't give him away. Victor..._

Unconsciousness claimed her.

oOo

**A/N: Please review if you want an update, I think 5 is a fair number, don't you? Mwuahahahaha! Oh, and thanks to:**

**Fire Black Dragon- Glad you're looking forward new chapters! :-]**

**Gothicpug- I will try to keep up the good work, lemme know how it goes!**

**Tulip Tea- Yeah, it'd be hysterical if she were older than the brothers, like born before the American Revolution! **

**Mandya1313- Dude. Sweet. Thanks. ;-]**

**Nessie-Fan- SO glad you liked chapter 15, was kinda nervous it would turn out lame. Did you get the idea behind what I was trying to convey? :-/**

**Kathalla- Yeah, I figure it's good to shake Victor up a bit. Not too much though, he might eat me.**

**xPrincetonx- Thanks for reviewing and giving the story a go!**

**ObscureStranger- Yeah, Vicki's not entirely psycho, mostly, but not entirely. He has his moments...*sigh* I guess you could call them Mate-y Moments, huh? ;-]**

**Also thanks to:**

**Sessys Girl Forever, xPrincetonx, EmbryStarscream and XxDarkFirexX for adding this to alerts and/or faves! Ya'll are all cooler than penguins performing in Disney On Ice. That's pretty cool.**


	18. Heartbeats in Silence

**A/N: Sorry it took longer than usual to update but I was having a hard time deciding where to go until once again, the plot bunnies took control over my fingers and started typing on their own. They've been doing that pretty much this whole freaking story. **

**This chapter is dedicated to the most faithful reviewers ever: Gothicpug, Tulip Tea and Kathalla. BTW, I checked and I was right. There _isn't_ anyway you three could get cooler. It's actually physically impossible. Weird, huh?**

**I own nut-tink! Absolutely nut-tink but Lupa! ;-] **

_Recap:_

_Victor was on his way to his Lupa's cell with food and water, it was nearly midnight which meant he had almost three hours with her. He stopped outside her door and inhaled sharply. He could smell her out here in the hallway. Someone had taken her out and then brought her back not too long ago. The rich tang of her blood and sweat hung in the air, not an hour old. _

_**WHAT DID THEY DO TO HER? **_

_Victor almost ripped the steel door off it's hinges while opening it, he did manage to bend and warp the metal though. What would he find in that cold cement room? What would be left of his mate? For the first time since Jimmy started healing on his own over 130 odd years ago, Victor felt the icy fingers of fear creeping down his spine..._

Chapter 18

Heartbeats in Silence

She came awake because she was moving, or rather, _being_ moved. And it hurt! The Wolfgirl released a whimper, weakly hoping for, but not expecting, a reprieve, mercy. It didn't work, of course. She was still being, _Dragged? Yes, dragged,_ out of her cage by her ankles. Lupa didn't even have the energy to open her eyes, she was done protesting, she hurt too much.

She could feel her legs were fully out of the wire kennel now and tensed her body for the foot long drop to the floor. They kept her cage within a cage elevated, why she wasn't sure. She did have a few theories though. One such theory was because being kept a foot off the ground caused her more discomfort. The metal strips bit into her skin from the pressure of her own weight, leaving strangely patterned bruises that never got a proper chance to heal. Lupa sometimes stared at them, finding shapes or designs in the patterns and colors tattooing her body. Another plausible reason the men had, was that it kept air circulating beneath her, chilling her further after she'd lost her usually high body temperature. The feral suspected this second hypothesis was more of an unforeseen side benefit for Stryker, however. The third and most revolting possibility was twofold, for hygiene and safety. If she should ever vomit, piss herself or lose control of her bowels, the resulting mess would be easier to clean up. Plus she wouldn't have be taken from her cage as often, thus risking his mens' safety. Her clothes and her body wouldn't have to washed as frequently from wallowing in her own filth, as well. There was even a drain on the floor they could hose any mess into. Lupa suspected her first and third ideas were the closest to Stryker's own way of thinking.

Expecting empty air and then a short, hard fall to a cold floor once free of her kennel, the female was surprised to find warm, strong arms lifting her up. The aroma of pine needles, good soil and a pleasing animal musk floated down to blanket her face. _Victor_. She smiled ever so slightly in absolute relief, eyes still shut.

"Victor." His name came out sounding like something in-between a ragged sigh and a pained whisper.

Lupa kept her mind blank and allowed her wolf to take over to fully experience the moment with all her enhanced senses. _Scent_. She took a deep breath. _Rage. He smells angry, dangerous, like a wild thing. And-he smells of, of worry? For...me? _

_Touch. Thick arms, softness over heated steel. He's carrying me like a bride, exactly how the American soldiers told me about so many years ago. Holding me, like I hoped he would someday. How can his body feel so comfortable and yet still be so powerful, so hard, so lethal?_

_Sound. I can hear him breathing. He's being so quiet, so restrained. I can hear his heart pounding but he doesn't let himself gasp for more air. Why is his heart beating so fast? Why is he being so quiet? It's almost like he's forcing himself to make as little noise as possible...What would make him act so, careful?_

The Wolf Girl mentally skipped over taste because, well she didn't know why, but she skipped it hurriedly.

_Sight. All that's left is sight._

She opened her eyes very slowly and kept the tentative smile on her face. Hesitantly Lupa blinked once, twice, three times before able to focus on the form above her, cradling her in her arms. She furrowed her forehead. _Yes, he is worried. And angry, very angry._

She had scented both emotions and now had visual confirmation. Victor's usually tanned skin was pale and mouth tense and tight. His eyes were narrowed, pupils dilated despite the bright artificial lights built in the the ceiling. Creed's arms tightened their grasp on the limp bundle of female feral. Lupa whimpered again, it hurt. He loosened his hold instantly at the small cry, he still held her tightly, but now a step below the threshold of pain.

Lupa looked around a bit and saw he had moved at some point, _Does he really distract me so much I didn't noticed him walking or am I simply that badly injured? _

They were now sitting down in a corner of the gray room and she was resting securely in his lap. Of course he had picked the corner of her cell that provided the best tactical advantage should an enemy burst in on them. They were directly to the left of the only door so that if it opened they would be momentarily hidden by the steel. A moment was more than enough time for Sabertooth.

Silence reigned. Finally Lupa rasped out,"Thank you, Victor. I have not been this warm in a long time."

And then they were quiet again, each listening to the others heartbeat and finding some measure of comfort in the sound.

oOo

**A/N: Please please please review if you have any ideas, input, comments or if you just liked the story! Any author will tell you reviews actually do inspire you write and update! I swear!**

**Thanks a million to:**

**Gothicpug – See! I TOLD you I channel Creed sometimes when I write! But nooo, nobody believed me! I would have posted chapter 17 earlier if it weren't for him! Seriously. **

**Kathalla – Don't worry Pretty Lady, Victor's gonna kick some serious military butt soon!**

**FyreFly – Thanks! I was very worried about 17 and how it'd go over. So relieved I didn't bomb it! ;-]**

**Alicia Marianne – I feel like I hit the review lottery! Thanks for multiple reviews! Love your stories too, thanks for returning the favor of reviewing mine!**

**Tulip Tea – Yeah, Lupa's a total bad ass. She's hardcore. **

**Sessys Girl Forever – Very happy you love it! Lovely compliment, thank you!**

**xPrincetonx – OK, I _guess_ I'll keep writing. But only if you keep reading, deal? ;-]**

**Obscure Stranger – Thanks for the review, glad you liked my terrible word...coinage? LOL**

**And thanks to:**

**Alicia Marianne, sxesuki and DieHardLiveLong for setting this to their alerts and/or favorites! **

**You ALL get a cookie. **


	19. Story Trading

**A/N: Thanks Ever So To:**

**Tulip Tea – Yeah, I totally grossed myself out the last chapter with the whole cage bit. Yucky.**

**GothicPug – See, I totally disagree, I like your writing much more than mine!**

**xPrincetonx – Cookies rock, but cupcakes rock harder.**

**Fire Black Dragon – Thanks for reviewing again! Oh, and have I told you how cool your name is?**

**Mandya1313 – No, no, no! Love _you_! ;-]**

**And thanks to Writingnonstop and Nightstar521 for setting this to alerts!**

**Don't own anything from X-Men!**

Chapter 19

Story Trading

When Victor first entered the room he'd been on the verge of an uncontrollable blood rage. It wasn't until he heard Lupa's heartbeat that the terrible anger he felt began to secede slightly.

_Need ta get her outta that fucking dog kennel __**NOW**__. _

Not wasting any time the male feral slammed the door behind him and stormed into the cement room. He ripped the padlock off her cage with one yank from his massive, clawed paw. He'd have to get Jimmy or Dukes to get a replacement lock tonight. The wires of her cage were cabled steel, but the ones around the lock bent from his strength, Creed figured he'd be able to bend them back later. He snatched the cage's door open and reached in, grabbing both of Lupa's ankles with one hand. Dragging her out, Victor didn't notice his talons cutting into his female's flesh, and only barely registered her pained whimper.

When she was halfway out, Creed bent and scooped the Wolf Girl up into his tense arms. Her warm, welcoming scent helped to calm him further as he stalked to a corner. The bundle croaked, "Victor."

His chest ached at the sound of his name slipping from her parched lips.

_Shit, she sounds like hell_.

He looked down at the battered form in his lap and let his eyes scan her body for damage. He could see fresh bruises left by restraints and was startled to find stitches zippering across her exposed skin.

_Stitches? _

Victor refocused and noticed that only the longest and larges cuts had been sewn up. There were many smaller, shallower slices that had been left untended.

_Is she really that bad off her body needs help closin' the big ones? What's she look like under that dirty potatah sack they call a dress?_

The male feral looked back to Lupa's face and saw her eyes were now open, staring straight at him. She winced when he squeezed her too hard. He hadn't even noticed tightening his grip on her but loosened it immediately.

"Thank you, Victor. I have not been this warm in a long time."

Lupa's words caused heat to flood Victor's body in turn, a primal reaction to pleasing her. It was such a simple thing and yet, providing warmth for his mate made Creed smirk with primitive self-satisfaction.

_I knew I could pull-off this mate shit. Takin' care of her an' all that. Can't be that hard, jus' gotta keep an eye on my temper 'round her, is all...If only Jimmy could see me now, he'd be so proud..._ This last thought was sardonic and in a darker tone than the previous ones.

They sat for a long while just listening to each others heartbeat and taking comfort in the their presence. Finally, Victor spoke. "How is it that ya speak English if you were raised by Gypsies in Europe?"

He wasn't looking at her then, just staring off into space, enjoying the feel of Lupa against his chest, her body pressed against his. When she answered him she didn't look at him either, just closed her eyes and remembered.

"Roma. They are called Roma or Romani, not Gypsy," Lupa stated in a flat, hollow voice.

Victor restrained himself from snarling at her for daring to correct him. If he wanted her to come him willingly he shouldn't scare her. Definitely not hurt her, either. Plus he wasn't sure she realized what she'd said, it almost seemed like an reflexive response. Something someone had drilled into her head.

But it was a small transgression, he would forgive her. _I'll have ta teach her the rules when we get outta here._

"Every summer the Romani and I returned to Budapest for three months. We would set up in the city's largest park in the Pest side of the Danube. There was a little local boy who came and saw me as often as he could each year. First he came with his parents and sister and later as he grew, he came alone, spending hours at the foot of my enclosure. We became something like friends for a season every year. He taught me English. His mother was British but had married a Hungarian, she taught her son and he taught me."

"When was this?"

"I met him maybe 10 years after the first Great War. Do you remember it? How they said it would be the 'war to end all wars?'" Lupa snorted. She was more talking to herself than to him, Creed recognized. "He was a young pup when we first met and I watched him grow until the second Great War, when he became a man. A soldier."

"What happened to 'em?"

"He came back but wasn't the same. Not my pup." The subject seemed to be closed judging by her answer, but Creed pushed for more.

"What do ya mean?"

"If you are as old as I think you are, Victor, then you must know better than I how war can change a man." Lupa sighed and opened her eyes to look at the man who caused her to feel so many different things.

"When Zsiga returned it was summer, but he only came to see me a few times before he left again. The last time we spoke, he said he had lost himself somewhere on the battlefield. Had seen and done things that kept him from sleeping, things had made him ashamed. Unworthy. He said couldn't be my protector anymore."

Lupa got a soft, faraway look in her silver eyes, Victor could see she was back in the past.

"You see, Zsiga means protector or guardian and once, when he was little, he saw some older boys making fun of me in my cage and chased them off. He said when he grew up he'd make sure to take care of me. But...after the war, he wasn't my little Zsiga anymore," she said gently. "I never saw him again after that, but I remember English in his memory."

oOo

**A/N: OK, yes I am aware this chapter doesn't exactly further the plot but I wanted to have them get to know each other little, give some background, ya know? Next chapter will progress the story, I promise! But please please please review, it is much appreciated and desperately required to inspire me. And really, is it that hard to press that little button at the bottom of every chapter then type out a few words? Nope, it's really not. Plus you get a cupcake if you review, right xPrincetonx? ;-]**


	20. Not Enough

**A/N: Let's see if anyone gets the reference behind this chapter's title, I may be reaching...Oh and thanks to everyone who reviewed, it is truly appreciated. Cupcakes (with sprinkles) will be handed out at the end of the chapter. **

**Alicia Marianne - The longer chapter was just for you! And maybe Logan would be the better mate for Lupa, but I can't give anything away...Mwuahaha! **

**Fire Black Dragon – Yeah, you've got a hot name. Is that wrong of me to say? XD**

**xPrincetonx – Really like your story! Glad you're still enjoying mine!**

**NightStalkerBlade – This update is for you since I do the same thing for my favorite stories, I practically stalk my e-mail account for updates!**

**Lil Mizz Blondi – Ooo! 2 reviews for little ole me? You flatter me. Here's your cupcake. ;-]**

**ObscureStranger – Thanks for the double review! And yeah, Vicki definitely has a sense of humor, kinda twisted but it's still there. **

**mandya1313 – Glad you like the story behind her learning English, it was given to me by very determined plot bunnies.**

**Gothicpug – Thanks for the staunch defense of me darling! You must write a mean media essay!**

**tulip tea – Victor is definitely the jealous type and I think it'll show soon...hint, hint ;-]**

**blackhawk68 – Thanks for the review! Short and sweet ones are sometimes the best!**

Chapter 20

Not Enough

"Dukes I got a job for you tonight. _J__ust_ for you, understand?" Stryker arched one eyebrow to convey the seriousness of his question.

"Yeah, boss, I got you." Dukes replied.

"At 19 hundred hours* a transport will leave this island bound for a private airfield one hour away. It is a very. Important. Transport."

Stryker paused and looked at the incredibly powerful mutant standing before him. He knew Dukes thought he wasn't aware of those little mercy visits he paid to the female feral over the past six months. Sneaking her food when he thought no one was watching, talking to her, comforting her. But Stryker had known from almost the start, he just chose to ignore them. It was clear the Blob wouldn't break the female out, if he had wanted to he would have done it by now. In addition, Stryker was fairly certain Dukes knew he wasn't intelligent enough to carry out a daring rescue of some 'damsel in distress.' So there was nothing really to be worried about, really.

"Remember the mutant we picked up in the Russian wilds half a year ago? Well, I want to move her to another facility. A larger one in northern Canada with the best equipment and newest technology has just been completed. You'll be the security detail on the journey there. We're keeping this low profile so it will just be you and the driver in the truck to the airfield. Once you load the crate, Agent Zero will take over for you. He'll be waiting on the plane. Then you'll be done and may return here in the truck."

The Colonel had to hold in a delighted grin at the look on Dukes' face. This was part of the reason he'd chosen the Blob for the mission, to be able to watch how the soldier would react. The mutant actually looked like he was in pain.

_How wonderfully amusing..._

Dukes' had already proven his where his loyalties lay by refusing to break the girl out and by not running off to tell Logan or Victor about her. And yet he still cared about her future and well being.

_Just not enough. Not enough._

Stryker gloried in the power trifecta of self-preservation, rationalization and self-delusion. What a person could live with. How the ego's reasoning could explain anything and everything away. The hypocrisy of man. He loved the complexity of the human mind: despite choosing his military career over the girl, Dukes still worried for the Wolf Girl.

_Utter foolishness._

The Colonel smirked slightly as he continued to study the emotions washing across the Blob's face.

The preexisting relationship between the Blob and Lupa could possibly work out in Stryker's favor as well. She might prove more docile if Dukes was the one loading her into the crate, might be calmer in the truck if she thought he was going with her. The Colonel wouldn't have to worry about her during the flight. Zero was in Washington D.C. picking up the new tranquilizers from the lab there, then flying back just in time to pick up the female mutant .

"Are we clear so far, Dukes?"

"Yes, sir."

"Excellent. At 1830* you'll need to assist the scientists with switching the feral from the cage to the crate it will travel in. Remember, no one else is to know. If anyone on the team asks, you're going out for the night on a date. Dismissed, soldier."

Dukes walked out of Stryker's office with a purposeful stride, only one thing on his mind: _Gotta find Logan._

oOo

***1900 Hours = 7 PM**

***1830 Hours = 6:30 PM**

**A/N: Yes, yes I know this is short, and I'm so sorry for it, but I'll probably update again tonight or tomorrow at the latest! Please review if you like the story and the direction it's going in! **

**OH! And don't forget to pick up your cupcakes! ;-]**


	21. Mine

**A/N: Wow, 2 updates in as many hours, I am good. Once again, I own nothing but Lupa and the plot. Oh and I'm kinda vague about the time line of _Origins: Wolverine_. I'm guessing it's in the 70s since Three Mile Island had the nuclear leak in real life in 1979. I'm just gonna blend the comics and movie time lines together I think, it's already AU anyway, right?**

Chapter 21

Mine

The worried soldier found Logan in the brothers' room again. It was half past midnight, after all. Victor wasn't there though and Dukes wasn't sure if he was relieved at the absence or not. He needed to talk to him too, even if the man-beast did scare the bejesus outta him. If Creed wasn't here, that meant he was with Lupa. And Dukes didn't know how he felt about that, either. On the one hand, if anyone could protect her, Victor Fucking Creed could. The Blob had witnessed the fierce blood-loyalty between Logan and Victor and the violence with which they used to defend the other. If things continued the way there had been, if Sabertooth kept up with his newly found protective behavior, the soldier believed the feline feral would guard his little friend with that same ferocity. But on the other, could the elder brother keep her safe from himself?

"Bad news Logan. We got a 16 hour window now," and the Blob proceeded to tell the available brother how he'd been summoned by their C.O.* at an unusually late hour as well as the orders he'd just been given.

oOo

Still in the bleak gray room, Lupa remained in Victor's lap and in his arms. A few minutes had passed since his mate's story and Sabertooth finally asked his first question, "He was _just_ your protector?" The emphasis the male feral placed on the word 'just' was not missed by the female.

Briefly and detachedly, Lupa considered how she felt about his question and her options in her response to it.

She could laugh again, he didn't seem to get angry when she had before and the question did amuse her in a strange way...Well, that or she was becoming hysterical. She could pretend to be offended at his implication, that she and her little Zsiga had had some kind of an affair. Though she risked his anger at that, on top of the fact she would be lying. At last, Lupa sighed heavily. She was rambling in her head again. A sure sign how exhausted she was becoming.

"Yes, Victor. He first was my cub, then my brother and always my protector, though as he got older he became more successful in that endeavor. But nothing more than that. We loved one another, though were never in love, do you understand? But why does it matter? _Decades_ have passed since then." She asked this out of pure, innocent curiosity. Out of the desire to know him, to understand him, though she couldn't explain (even to herself) exactly why she felt the need to know him, understand this man.

"Because I don't like other people touchin' what belongs to **me**. Don't _matter_ when it happened." He snapped out angrily, baring his teeth at her to display dominance.

"I belong to you?" Lupa questioned quietly. The Wolfgirl's mind was oddly calm and accepting, as if some part of her brain had known this fact all along and was merely patiently waiting for the rest of it to catch up. Her heart continued to beat steadily, but she noticed Victor's had quickened.

_Why am I so calm? Why am I not _reacting_? Perhaps I am hurt worse than I thought..._The Wolfgirl trailed off in confusion.

"Yes. You belong to me. You are **my** mate. **MINE.**" Creed's words were hard and not at all comforting, let alone romantic as they hung in the air between them. He sounded very final in this declaration.

"If it makes you feel any better, you are the first person to ever hold me like this. At least that I can remember. And my memory goes back very far. When he was a child, Zsiga would hold my hand through the bars of the circus cage, but only when we were alone in the tent, when there were no customers or Roma. He liked my claws."

There was a brief, incredulous silence.

"That's fuckin' it? You're not gonna say anything else?" Victor was dumbfounded, and when confronted with a situation he could not readily understand, he would always fall back on the one emotion he was most comfortable with: Anger. So, he got angry. Creed could feel the heat build in his chest and began to move upwards to his head. He'd be seeing red soon.

"Yes, that's fucking it. I think I do...belong to you," the female tranquilly replied. She looked into his dark blue eyes with her own clear silver ones, softly blinking once. She had only briefly hesitated before using the word 'belong.'

Lupa felt strange. She was aware she should feel umbrage at his presumption and arrogance. Indignant anger and immediate, bitter resistance to the idea, the very suggestion. (She belonged to herself! No one _owned_ her!) The woman even wanted to feel anger because she _wanted_ to be angry. At the very least, she wished she were angry at herself for her lack of horrified response.

Yet instead, Lupa again experienced the strange sensation of something clicking into place within herself. Acceptance and relief. A strange feeling that everything would be alright. That they'd be able to work everything out now they were together. A sense that maybe she could belong to someone and yet not be owned as a slave was. That she could still belong to herself. That maybe it was a fair trade for what she got in return. _Who_ she got in return.

But deep down, on some primal level, the Wolfgirl _was_ angry. Angry for seeming to 'give in' so easily, to submit to this _male _without him proving his worth. The animal in her warred against the human who knew it was a mutual submission, a partnership, even if the male did not see that yet.

_He will catch up, though._ Lupa smiled internally.

To Victor, her words were a splash of cold water on the fire of his burgeoning rage. They seemed to deflate him and his arms slightly loosened their hold on Lupa momentarily.

"Oh," the man seemed to be at a loss, looking into her eyes with a surprised, slightly silly look on his face.

"I don't know why or how it happened, but I know that I'm yours. I can feel it somehow." She smiled up at him a bit. The Wolfgirl pulled on Victor's shirt to get his face closer to her own. "And you, you are **mine**." Before Victor could bristle at that, Lupa closed her eyes and brought her lips to his.

While her actions were bold, her kiss was hesitant, she had no experience before this except for the wet baby kisses Zsiga had given her when he was a pup. Lupa kept her lips closed and only pressed them against Victor's. It took him a moment to respond as his body had frozen the second she'd claimed him back. He guided her mouth with his, though he was inexperienced as well. He fucked whatever girls came his way, usually the paying type to keep things simple, this was the first one to actually mean something. And he'd never particularly liked kissing frails before, but Lupa's lips were honeysuckle sweet and oh so soft. He felt her sharp little claws comb through the fine hair at the back of his neck when her arm came up around to hold him close.

As they kissed, the feral tasted her lips with his tongue and slid between them when her mouth parted in surprise. He could tell she liked it because she responded in kind, massaging her tongue against his eagerly. Their kiss became rougher and two sets of fangs clashed. Sabertooth tasted the his Lupa's blood and groaned, he was rock hard from just a damn kiss. Somewhere far away Victor realized he'd cut her lip and she couldn't afford to lose anymore blood. But she didn't seem to mind, Lupa just bit him back and licked at the wound. He groaned more deeply this time.

Creed lifted his head so he didn't lose control. She wasn't in any shape to continue. However much they _both_ wanted to, he thought smugly. And he knew she wanted to, she had resisted pulling away from him and now had her head was tucked beneath his chin, holding onto his shirt. He could smell the scent of her naive arousal drifting up into his nose. Creed's muscles tensed until he forced his own desires down.

_Focus ya little shit! Ya gotta take care of her, look after her. Listen ta the big head, not the little one, ya asshole!_

With his thoughts clearing, Victor listened to their ragged panting. He could hear their hearts pounding hard in unison. But they were not pounding so hard the two hotblooded ferals didn't hear the footsteps approaching from outside the door.

"Someone is coming."

oOo

***C.O. = Commanding Officer**

**A/N: MWUAHAHAHA! Yes! I did end it there! Again! I shall update when I have have gotten some reviews. Remember, not only will I update faster if you review, you get a cupcake too. Who doesn't love cupcakes, right?**


	22. Flower Blossoms

**A/N: OK, so this one is short but I'll be updating again very very soon, so review and it might be sooner! Thanks to:**

**Gothicpug – It was my fave chapter too! Thanks for reviewing again doll face!**

**xPrincetonx – Damn skippy nobody doesn't loves cupcakes. ;-] **

**Alicia Marianne – Soon m'dear, soon...**

**mandya1313 – Thanks!**

**Lauren – LOL, yeah, I laughed my ass off writing it!**

**Lil Mizz Blondie – The head comment seemed very apt at that moment, glad you laughed!**

**tulip tea – Another update for you sweet!**

**Violet Lily 101, Mad Eyes Army, VioletColoredLies (fan-freaking-tastic name!), Volaticus, and wierdunusualchick for alerting/favoriting! **

Chapter 22

Flower Blossoms

"Someone's coming," Lupa stated, her body tightening up, in preparation for a fight or for pain.

Victor responded with a deep growl she felt before she heard. Swiftly he lifted her up and set her back down on the ground in the same corner where they had been holding each other seconds before. He continued to snarl and took a fighting stance in front of her. There was no time for words before the door opened.

Dukes stepped forward, eyes straight ahead at the empty cage, Logan right behind him.

"What the FUCK are you two doin' here?" Victor rumbled out in a quiet voice.

The two intruders spun and saw Victor towering over Lupa, once again with claws drawn and fangs exposed.

"We got a problem. Stryker's movin' her to a new base up in Canada in a little under 15 hours. Dukes here is supposed to box up her, drive her to a private airfield and load her into a plane where Zero will be waitin'." Logan gushed out. He knew Victor would prefer a quick, concise answer, one that didn't make him ask any further questions.

"Anyone outside in the hallway?"

"Naw, Vic, right now we're the only ones on this level." Logan answered.

As soon as Jimmy finished speaking, Sabertooth let out a primal roar, trying to release all the rage and frustration he felt just then. Trying to reign in the urge for violence. The sound rattled the wires on Lupa's cage and was felt in the chest and bones of the other three mutants. Blood drained from Dukes' face in fear, millions of years of evolution were screaming at him to flee from the dangerous predator bellowing before him. And then it was over, and quiet again.

"New plan."

oOo

Gathered around Lupa's cage, it took the men almost an hour to form a new plan. It was riskier and had more opportunities for something to fuck up, but there was no choice. She stayed quiet during the discussion, these men were professional soldiers, mercenaries, they needed no help from a former circus freak, current science experiment. Soon, she silently backed away from the the men clustered around her 'bed' and returned to her and Victor's corner to curl up, trying to retain her own body heat. She stared blankly at the strange bruises left on her legs left by the cage's cruel wires.

About 20 minutes into plotting Logan was the first, and the only one, to notice the female's retreat. He looked at his elder brother, who was preoccupied arguing with Dukes about escape routes and turned again to the corner. Removing his pea-coat, Jimmy slowly walked to Lupa and dropped down. Victor and the Blob were still fighting. Gently he placed the jacket over the abused feral, staying crouched despite the position being uncomfortable.

"Better?" He asked.

Lupa lifted her head a bit and smiled at Jimmy. "Yes, thank you. I have been feeling the cold much, recently." She lowered her head back down and relished the warmth left by Logan's body radiating from the coat. She barely knew the man, but this small act of kindness was revealing of his character. He smelled good too, like fresh snow and spring water. Clean and refreshing.

"How did ya get those?" Logan ventured, gesturing to bruises marring Lupa's skin.

The Wolfgirl looked down, "My flower blossoms?" She started tracing the lines with the tips of her clawed fingers.

"Yer what?"

"My flower blossoms. Sometimes I can see designs or find shapes in them. Most often they look like colorful flowers blooming on my skin. So I call them my flower blossoms. They're from the cage's wires."

Logan stared harder at the marks and realized if he turned his head and kind of squinted, he could see flowers blooming on her legs too. The fresh marks were clear, straight lines and could kind of look like plant stalks. The older, more colorful bruises, where the blood had spread out underneath her skin, were the flowers themselves. And they _were_ colorful, Jimmy noticed. There were endless shades: dark and light blue, forest green to a sickly greenish yellow. Deep black, royal purple, pale lilac and angry red. All were painted on her body.

He smiled a gentle smile, one he would use on a child. "They do look like flowers."

Lupa nodded and smiled and gentle smile back, one she would use on children that became alarmed at the sight of her. Victor never looked at her like that. He never looked like he felt sorry for her or was uncomfortable around her. He never patronized her.

Logan walked back over to the center of the room and the oblivious, arguing mutants. Finally, 30 minutes later, their plans were made. The three men turned as one and looked at the object of their designs. She was asleep, wrapped in Logan's navy blue jacket.

Jimmy tensed, he hadn't thought about how Victor might react to his brother giving his mate a jacket.

_Too late now, huh, ya idiot? Shit._

But instead of lunging at Jimmy and ripping his throat out for 'trying to steal his mate,' Victor stared at his brother with cold eyes and nodded once. Logan was stunned, had Creed just..._thanked_ him? Confused, Logan glanced at Dukes.

"Blob, me and Victor gotta talk some more. Meet up with ya later, alright?" Jimmy asked.

Dukes nodded and left without a word, though he did linger briefly to glance at the sleeping Lupa. Creed growled, a long low sound that lifted the hairs on the back of the Blob's neck. He took the hint and left.

The brothers stared at each other for several long moments. Much was said without them speaking a word.

_Thanks, little brother. I ain't used ta takin' care of somebody._

_You took care of me._

_Long time ago, that._

_Ya did though. You'll remember how._

_I ain't gonna fuck this one up, little brother. _

Logan's answering silence was painful for both. For Jimmy because he wanted to believe so badly that what Victor said was true, but knew that sooner or later he would fuck it up. And for Victor, because he saw how much Logan _wanted_ it to be true, but couldn't really believe it.

oOo

**A/N: OK, I hope it was clear who was 'talking' when during the silent conversation. Victor 'speaks' first, then Logan, then Victor, then Logan again and finally Victor. So please please review, I'm not gonna update until I get at least 100 reviews because I'm neurotic and want to have a nice even number of reviews, having like 99 would be too cruel. But no worries, that's only four reviews! Hope everyone liked the update and that all the Americans had a good Thanksgiving! Remember, reviews guarantee a speedy update!**


	23. Blood & Tears & Something to Lose

**A/N: Nope, don't anything that Marvel does. Also schank you very much to:**

**Stefffles – No, you're radical!**

**tulip tea – This one's for you cause you were the only one to comment on the flower blossoms and I was so proud of them, so thanks! :-D**

**xPrincetonx (AKA Skippy) –Thanks for reviewing again! And when are you gonna update your story again? Can't wait!**

**Alicia Marianne – I'm definitely going to milk out the escape as much as I can…here's the first installment. ;-]**

**Lil Mizz Blondie – You're so sweet! Glad you liked the chappie!**

**Mandya1313 – Danke schien! **

**Gothicpug – Hurrah! You were Review Number 100! You get TWO cupcakes this time! Score!**

**Lauren – Thanks for being my one hundred and first, if it means anything, it still felt like the first time for me… ;-]**

**pheobep3 – Updated!**

**VioletColoredLies – 1st: You're welcome. 2nd: Thanks. 3rd: I'll try! ;-]**

**HeyPeoples – Thanks for the sweet review! Hope you like this next installment! Neato name, btw.**

**Diagnosis-MusicObsession – Thanks for the review, here's your update! p.s. this there a cure for music obsession? Like maybe two hours a day listening to elevator muzak? Just curious. ;-]**

**And thanks to A Fascination of the Bizarre (it's nice to see some people do know how to spell bizarre correctly), Kyle Baker, Weird Gurl Defining Reality (can I try too?), RockBouvier21 and Nana Rae for alerting/favoriting ****The Feral****! It's very much appreciated! Now onward to the story:**

Chapter 23

Blood & Tears & Something to Lose

He was anxious. Victor was never anxious, but he was anxious now. His chest felt as tight and tense as the strings of a violin bow or leather stretched for tanning. So much could go wrong during this mission and for the first time ever, Victor had something to lose. If Lupa were taken from him, whether through death or by Stryker and his men, Sabertooth knew he wouldn't be able to handle it. And if she did die, the best possible scenario would involve Victor going mad with vengeful, uncontrollable grief and end with the Runt cutting his brother's head off.

But before being put out of his misery by his younger brother, Creed would've made sure to destroy anyone and everyone who had ever done his mate wrong. Stryker, Dukes, Zero, the soldiers, the white coats, those fucking Gypsies. Everyone. Nothing would satisfy Victor's lust for revenge if he never saw her moon colored eyes again. If he couldn't feel the warmth of her body pressed against his or watch the rythmic rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. Should Stryker kidnap her, separate Lupa from both feral brothers, he would make it rain blood and tears until he got her back. Sabertooth would hunt for her to the ends of the earth, and eviscerate anyone who carried her scent until he found her again. If they had broken her before he arrived, he'd break them back. Starting with their legs.

He and Jimmy Runt were following the truck that carried only Lupa, Dukes and the driver. The brothers were on two army motorcycles they'd 'borrowed' from their soldier friends back at the base. They made sure to keep the headlights off, using their feral eyesight to guide them in the dark. After trailing a safe distance behind the military truck for almost an hour, both mutants knew the airfield should be fast approaching. The plan was to ditch the bikes a quarter of a mile from the plane and go by foot the rest of the way.

Jimmy watched the passenger side of the truck and saw the Blob to hang his arm out the window. He motioned to Creed to stop, "Dukes gave the signal, we should dump the bikes off the road here." Grateful the truck's diesel engine was loud enough to cover the noise of their motorcycles, the men roared off the road through a patch of trees.

They dropped the bikes in the dirt by some brush and started running, Jimmy racing on two legs and Victor bounding on all fours. Approaching the edge of the airfield, they saw the truck had already halted and Dukes was greeting Zero. Now was the time to act.

oOo

**A/N: Sorry it's short but next chapter will be longer! Please review if you liked the story or have suggestions/ideas/a desire to stroke my ego. ;-]**


	24. David North & 3 Mistakes

**A/N: Own nothing Marvel does. Thanks to:**

**Gothicpug – What can I say, I write what I know: I am short (relatively, 5'6") and sweet.**

**xPrincetonx – I wrote a longer one for you Skipster!**

**Lil Mizz Blondie – Glad I made you giggle a little, I like giggling...**

**NightStalkerBlade – Thanks for reviewing, love your stories!**

**Obscure Strange – Yeah, I totally swoon over Victor all the time. **

**mandya1313 – Gestena (That's Romani for Gracias) ;-]**

**tulip tea – Darling, this chapter's for you cause you asked so nice. ;-***

**Alicia Marianne – LOL, I love Victor as the Big Bad Wolf! It's freaking perfect: "What big teeth you have Grandma." / "All the better to, _eat_, you with." *Shivers* Yummy...**

**And thanks to xPoisonxApplex660, Mad Eyes Army, and Violet Lily 101 for alerting/favoriting!**

Chapter 24

David North & 3 Mistakes

Stryker had been right, moving Wolfgirl from her metal ckage into the wooden transport crate _was_ easier with Dukes present. After the brothers dismissed the Blob and had a silent tête-à-tête between themselves, Victor woke Lupa. He explained to his mate her part in the plan, which was, as he phrased it, to 'Follow orders, keep yer mouth shut, yer head down an' yer eyes an' ears open. We'll take care of the rest.'

She was compliant for Dukes because that was part of the plan. So yes, Stryker was right, but for the wrong reason. If there hadn't been an escape plan involved, Lupa would have fought Dukes when he came to transport her, preexisting semi-friendship or not. In her experience, change was generally for the worse. Therefore relocating to an unknown location for unknown purposes was, in her view, the greater evil.

_What was that old saying? The Devil you know...* _The Wolf Girl mentally trailed off.

oOo

Dukes never saw the feral brothers as they followed behind the vehicle that held Lupa as cargo – they were much too well practiced in discreet tailing. After giving the signal, hanging his arm out the passenger side window, the Blob began to feel slightly nauseous. He was practically sweating fucking bullets. Finally the truck pulled into the private airfield where a small Lear 35A** was already waiting. The airplane's door was open and revealed Agent Zero standing on the top step of the staircase. He cut a striking figure: a sharp-angled, dark silhouette with the cabin's light haloing out from behind him.

_Game's on_, Dukes thought to himself.

He ordered the driver to back the truck up to the plane in order to make the cargo transfer easier. Once they were parked, the anxious mutant pistol whipped the soldier and laid the unconscious man down on the bench seat before exiting the vehicle. He stepped onto the grass feeling a strange mix of relief and trepidation. His part of the plan was practically done, one last thing, then all he had to do was wait for Logan and Creed to make a move. That was the bit that made him nervous. The brothers had refused to tell him what the next stage of the plan was. It did make every kind of sense to keep him ignorant since Dukes had opted to stay with Stryker's team (where the hell else would he go?) and so the less he knew the better. But that only gave his mind license to run through countless possible, and some not so possible, scenarios. Frederick was almost dizzy with drawn-out anticipation.

While walking over to the jet and the Colonel's pet, the Blob realized he would miss Lupa. He couldn't deny that when she first arrived he'd only been interested in her because she was female, young, pretty and had a mysterious (therefore sexy) past. Even now he couldn't deny that sexual attraction was a part of what he felt towards her.

_Shit, when she wasn't beaten all to hell and half starved she was real pretty_, he mused.

Yet her looks weren't what made him knock on Logan's door late one night and ask for help. Her stubbornness, wisdom, storytelling skills, patience, kindness, understanding and overall _goodness_ were the reasons Dukes was risking his place on Stryker's team, not to mention his freedom or even his life.

But even though Dukes had known Lupa for much longer than Victor, had seen her when she first arrived, he couldn't see the beauty that remained in her like Victor could. Perhaps it was because no detail of his mate was too small to overlook that he still found little hints of her loveliness. Every time he saw her he memorized her face, each inch of her body and every sinful mark upon it. Maybe that attentiveness was why Victor alone could see that the grace of her was enhanced by the discolored and stitched skin: fragility exposed. How the cobalt blue and royal purple bruising on her cheekbones made her silver eyes shine like captured moonlight. Or that the stark black stitches she wore were proof of her continued survival. The ultimate triumph and victory and revenge for someone who was essentially prey.

In short work, though it felt eons longer, Dukes was standing before Zero and watching him walk down the stairs. "Have any trouble with the bitch?" The taller mutant bristled at the slur but held his tongue.

"Naw, she's been fine. Don't think you'll even need the tranqs for the trip. She's been quiet as a mouse." The Blob's final task was to see if he could convince Agent Zero not to drug Lupa. Victor had said that wasn't crucial to the plan that she be conscious, that it might actually be better to have her knocked out, but to still make an attempt.

"I'm not taking any chances," Zero deadpanned.

"Well, gimme a hand with the crate, it's awkward as fuck."

Dukes started walking over to the truck and overhead the sharpshooter grumbling something about 'dumb slabs of ox meat.' Opening the truck's back gate, he quickly jumped up onto the bed, forcing Zero take the more vulnerable position of leaving his back exposed. Dukes pushed the wooden crate to the edge and the two mutants managed to lower it to the ground. Still crouching from setting the cargo down, the gun-toting mutant removed a syringe from his jacket pocket and tucked it behind his right ear like a spare cigarette. He opened the cell's little wooden door and looked into the blackness.

Here is where David North, AKA Agent Zero, made his second mistake of the night. The first of course was leaving his back blind and unprotected while lowering Lupa's crate. The second mistake was not looking up to watch for a rear attack after the miniature prison cell was laid on the grass. If he had, he would have seen two feral mutants sprinting towards him, only a scant few hundred yards away.

"Give me your arm, little girl." David ordered into the dark void of Lupa's kennel. And because it was part of the plan to be compliant, Lupa slowly lifted her battered arm up through the void and out the hole, presenting it like a sacrificial offering. Zero couldn't see anything else of the woman besides her pale arm as he began injecting the tranquilizer. Then all David saw was the ground leaping up to meet him as an incredible wave of strength slammed into his body and knocked him flying.

oOo

**A/N: See! I TOLD ya'll this chapter would be longer! Next installment will be up sooner if I get some reviews, let's say 10 cause I'm averaging 150 visitors per chapter and that's sooo do-able. Oh and as a further incentive, a variety of cupcakes are available for pickup at my profile page for everyone who reviews! So...yeah...review!**

***To those who aren't familiar with the idiom, here it is, in completion: "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't."**

****See what a Lear 35A jet looks like at:**

**http :/ www . Genav . Com / Aircraft For Sale / Lear / 35A0188 . html **

**Except without the spaces. Little factoid there for ya. **


	25. The Great Escape

**A/N: Nope, still don't anything that Stan Lee owns. Thanks to:**

**Fire Black Dragon – Victor and I missed your reviews! Glad you're back!**

**xPrincetonx – I think you'll like the Zero parts in this chapter...**

**Fyrefly – Yeah, I was actually absurdly pleased this that part for some reason.**

**NightStalkerBlade – Remember when reading this chapter that this Zero is your Zero's evil twin...**

**Bdbelley – Yay! A new reader! And a flattering one too! You're cool. Thanks for reviewing, glad you like the story!**

**Gothicpug – Zero gets served again**

**mandya1313 – Merci! (Next time, Russian!)**

**HeyPeoples – Hope this doesn't disappoint!**

**EmbryStarscream – Aw, you're too nice! Thanks for reviewing!**

**And thanks to sarcasticlover93 for favoriting!**

**A/N 2.0: OK, so I just noticed that last night I posted a draft version of chapter 25, not the final version! The old one was missing a couple paragraphs that I think add to scene so I'm reposting chapter 25, the correct chapter this time. Sorry for the mix up!**

Chapter 25

The Great Escape

The brothers waited until Dukes and Zero were distracted while moving Lupa's crate. They were too far away to hear what was said, but when Victor and Jimmy saw Stryker's right hand man open the crate's door, they knew what he was going to do next. Victor burst through the forest out into the airfield, loping on all fours with death in his eyes. Despite the fact that Creed knew beforehand about the tranquilizers, seeing Zero inject some weird blue shit in his mate's arm let the Sabertooth loose in all his feral glory.

Not caring that he'd outstripped Jimmy in his rage, Victor leapt forward tackled Agent Zero, the syringe in the blindsided mutant's grip still half full. Sabertooth had built up such speed and momentum crossing the field that the two men tumbled head over heels for a good 20 feet before finally stopping. Creed used the spinning roll to propel himself into a ready crouch while Zero was dazed and lay on the ground on his back, one of his legs bent in an unnatural position underneath him.

Slowly and deliberately, Victor stood and walked towards the felled mutant like a tiger approaching conquered prey. He looked down on his opponent who was fading in and out of consciousness and smirked. Oh, he was going to enjoy this next bit immensely...

Sabertooth viciously kicked Zero a few times, only satisfied when he heard the awful _crunch_ of ribs breaking and a guttural moan. He chuckled as his opponent weakly fumbled for the gun resting in the holster on his hip. Creed just shoved the searching hands away and ripped the weapon off the mutant's belt. Grinning widely, Victor stepped on Zero's chest and took the .45 caliber from its' leather case. Locking eyes with the enraged and agonized assassin, he bent the metal barrel, rendering it useless. Creed pressed down hard on the ribcage beneath his booted foot, savoring the sound of air rushing from his victim's lungs. He ground his boot into flesh and leaned forward to smile wickedly at his prey. Using the back of his hand, Creed smacked the mercenary across the face with enough force to make the expert marksman feel like his entire eyeball was going to pop out of it's socket.

"Now you listen _real good_ ta what I'm about ta tell ya. Me an' my brother? We're out. Handin' in our resignation papers, as it were. An' guess what? We already know what we want fer a goin' away present. That's why we're here, ta pick it up. I think you know what I'm talking bout, too. Ain't that right, _David_?" Sabertooth growled, he was using _that_ tone again, the one that meant pain and blood and the End. He wasn't touching the injured man, just used his voice to install fear and the anticipation of further, worse pain.

"The wolf bitch. You want her," Zero gasped out, saliva tinged pink with blood sputtered out with the words.

He was pretty sure one of his broken ribs had punctured a lung and that his left thigh bone was at the very least fractured, not to mention the knee was fucked too. He definitely had a concussion from the rolling fall as currently there were two blurry, Sabertooths standing over him. Overall, David North felt like he'd been run over by a Mack truck. A six foot, six inch, 250 pound feral running 20 miles an hour, Mack truck.

Creed reached out and took one of Zero's hands, "_Ah, ah, ah_."

With each 'ah' he broke a finger.

"Not nice ta talk about my woman that way," Victor smiled gently, like reprimanding a child. "_I. Don't. Like. It._ When someone disrespects my mate. So I'm gonna have ta punish ya for that little slip, make sure ya learn yer lesson, an' all...Give ya a permanent reminder 'bout what happens when ya talk about her."

Victor leaned down and ripped open David's shirt. He extended the yellow claw on his right index finger. When it was about two inches long he used his left hand to grip Zero's neck.

"_Stay still._"

David couldn't have disobeyed at this point, his body was frozen in primal terror. Thousands of generations ago this was something his ancestors feared deep down into their bones: death by a wild beast, being torn apart alive. That fear was practically written into his genetic code, carried down through the eons. Agent Zero just stared at that razor sharp claw coming closer and closer to his bare chest. Victor frowned a little in concentration and began to carve his name – _slowly_ – using his talon as a writing instrument and Zero's living skin as parchment. Blood made a lovely colored ink. After finishing, the marked man's body was shivering from shock and blood loss, Creed had cut deep.

"There! Now. Me, my brother an' my mate are gonna take this plane and go far, far away. We're even gonna let you and Dukes live. But only so you two shitheads can run on home to Stryker an' tell him what's what. The three of us are gonna disappear and **no one** is gonna go lookin' for us. **Ever**." Victor paused to make sure he had his captive's full attention. He broke Zero's last two fingers as well, just to be sure, relishing Zero's subdued moans of pain.

"If anyone tries ta look for us...well, I won't be happy. An' I'll know if someone starts sniffin' 'round in my business, starts pokin' 'round lookin' fer us. I've been playin' this game much longer than yer Colonel, I know more people an' lotsa folks owe me favors. He don't wanna mess with me or mine. An' she is **Mine**. Got it?"

Agent Zero jerked his head in a nod, "Got it." He was sweating in pain now, breathing hard and covered in scrapes, bruises and dirt, trying to hold in his pathetic whimpers.

"Good boy. I'm sure someone'll be alone soon enough to fetch you two. Have a nice life, Zero, an' _remember what I said_."

Victor stood and began to walk away before he stopped briefly and looked over his shoulder once to send a bone chilling smirk the other mutant's way. He strode towards the plane where Jimmy and Dukes waited, well hidden from David's sight and hearing.

The men were hunched over Lupa's crate, talking to each other with matching worried expressions on their faces. They looked like a couple of fussing mother hens. The female feral's arm was still the only part of her out of the box, Jimmy's fingers were resting on her wrist, checking her pulse. At that moment all the anger and rage and bitterness and hate fell out of Victor like the bottom dropped out. He could only see that bruised arm and the little line of blood weeping from where the needle pierced her pale skin. Creed felt like his heart had frozen inside his chest.

_Is she alright? What if she isn't alright? How much did she get injected with? How's her body gonna react ta that shit? _Concerns Victor had never had before were racing through his mind. _How long is she gonna sleep? How long will it take fer her ta heal up? Will the scars disappear or will they stay? Is there any permanent damage? Can we be 'permanently' hurt? _**No**_. She'll heal...She'll heal..._

He shook his head to clear those distracting thoughts, "We gotta hurry. Dukes, how you wanna do this?"

"Uh, can Jimmy do it?" Dukes ventured hesitantly.

Creed looked like he was holding on to his vicious temper by a razor's edge. While immensely strong and powerful, the Blob still felt pain just like anybody else.

"Fuck it, whatever," The Sabertooth grunted.

Before Dukes could turn to face Logan, he got punched in the face. Falling on his ass, he looked up in surprise at Jimmy.

"That'll leave a nice mark."

Victor snorted at his little brother's comment and ripped off the wooden crate's door. He reached in and pulled out an unconscious Lupa. Holding her bridal style, Creed stared at Dukes. "Don't look for us," he said fiercely before striding to the plane with his mate.

Jimmy glanced at Dukes and grinned ruefully, "I gotta do some more or else they'll never believe it, bub."

"I know, I know," the Blob stood up.

"He'll never say it, so I will for him. Thanks. She might not have lived this long if it weren't for you. And if you hadn't come to me when ya did...Well, just, thanks."

Dukes nodded and prepared himself for the next hit. It took a couple dozen good punches before Logan finally landed the one that knocked Dukes out. Sighing, he left his former comrade laying on the ground and boarded the jet.

Now was time for phase two of the plan...

oOo

**A/N: And she's out! Please review and lemme know what you think. There's probably going to be only a few more chapters before I wrap up so if you got any ideas now it the time to tell me! Oh and remember, reviewers get a cupcake!**


	26. Darkness, Blackness, Memory

**A/N: Own nothing but Lupa and the plot. Thanks to:**

**Gothicpug – Oh no! Don't cry, you'll make me cry!**

**Fire Black Dragon – Cupcakes are available for pick up on my profile page. ;-]**

**mandya1313 – Spasiba! (Russian)**

**NightStalkerBlade – LOL, you're cute when you've had sugar. I like it!**

**Bdbelley – Yeah, I think that was my favorite line in the whole chapter!**

**Alicia Marianne – Yeah, Dukes turned out to be a nice guy, I kinda felt bad having him stay with Stryker but the plot bunnies were very insistent.**

**tulip tea – You always leave such great reviews, every time I read them I do a little happy dance! Thanks for all the support!**

**xPrincetonx – LOL, love your review, check out the poll on my profile, you gave me the idea!**

**Thanks also to: Millenia-the-wings-of-valmar, GhostAuthor and DreamingCowgirl for favoriting/alerting!**

Chapter 26

Darkness, Blackness, Memory

Darkness. Blackness. Lupa was floating in an empty void. She could hear someone calling her name from very far away, but couldn't focus on the voice for long. It was like she was in a dream from which she couldn't wake herself. She felt fuzzy and confused, her body heavy but at the same time her mind was so incredibly light and airy.

_What happened? What is going on? Am I, am I dying?_

Struggling to focus, Lupa tried to piece together the memories that were drifting through her head. She had fallen into a fitful sleep after Dukes, Jimmy Runt and Victor left had waking hours later when two white coats entered the room. Dukes followed and behind him rolled an extra large hand truck, a wooden crate as its burden. Dukes had ordered the scientists about, giving them instructions on how they would switch the "cargo" from one cage to another. Lupa remembered she had listened quietly and followed the orders barked at her by Dukes who did an excellent job of staying in character.

After the switch she tried to keep her balance inside the wooden box as she was blindly and awkwardly rolled through the base out to a waiting truck. It was the first time in six months she had breathed fresh air. The first time being outside again and it was the cruelest torture she had yet experienced. She couldn't see the sky above her. She couldn't feel the wind brush over her skin or smell the strong scent of good soil. Instead, Lupa was locked in a small, dark box, a half an inch of wood between her and escape, freedom.

The new kennel had one small door that she had had to crawl through to get in. Inside there weren't any holes or cracks large enough for her to see out, they were just big enough to keep her from suffocating to death, (which happened to be one of the few experiments they had not yet tested on her).

Finally the hand truck had stopped and she had been lifted up into the waiting truck. Lupa heard Dukes send the scientists away, saying he could handle babysitting one guinea pig by himself until the driver showed up. Moments later Dukes knelt down and whispered to her through the wood.

"Lupa, I don't know how long we're gonna have alone. I, I just wanted to say sorry, for my bit in all of it. You're too good for this and I'm gonna make sure you get out like I shoulda done from the start, OK?"

"Fred, you have been my lifeline. Thank you. I will not forget you, ever," she responded softly.

"I won't forget you either, Wolf Girl."

They had both heard a set of boots approaching at the same time and their moment was over. Lupa spent the next hour sitting quietly in her box, feeling the vibrations from the diesel engine's chugging as it roared down the road. The dark never bothered her before she had been taken, but now it did. Before, the dark meant safety. She had the advantage of a wolf's night vision and could hide from others better in the blackness. Then though, locked in a small space, she couldn't use the darkness in her favor. She was trapped and there hadn't even been enough light for her feral eyes to see.

Finally the truck had stopped and she heard voices outside, Dukes plus someone else. Her crate was lifted and dropped to the ground with a heavy thud, Lupa jostled roughly within it. Then the little door had been opened and the other man spoke to her: "Give me your arm, little girl."

Lupa had slowly lifted her arm up out through the opening and tried to stop herself from trembling. She was unsuccessful and the man slammed her offered limb down on the hard wood, wrapping his fingers around her wrist in a vice grip. The female feral felt the sting of a needle pierce her skin and the familiar haze of sedatives flood her system. Her body felt leaden while her mind seemed to float away like a balloon from the circus. Lupa's last coherent thoughts had been of Victor and the plan before she drifted away into the sea of drug induced oblivion.

Snapping back into the present, the Wolf Girl could hear that voice calling her name again. She had no idea how long she had spent patching together the events of her transport. Was it over with? Had they escaped? Was Victor alright? And Jimmy Runt? Where was she?

Concentrating hard, Lupa was able to open her eyes a bit and tried to focus on the blurry shape hovering over her.

"Victor?"

oOo

**A/N: Please review if you liked the story at all, I'd really appreciate it! **

**Oh and check out my profile page to vote in the story poll!**


	27. A Lion & A Lamb, Or a Tiger & a Wolf

**A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating, I got a wicked bad cold and was too miserable to write anything. I'm still getting over it so please forgive me for not doing personal shout-outs for all my wonderful, spectacular, darling reviewers. I'm just too damn tired and lazy right now. I'll post them next update. Also I own nothing but Lupa and the plot. Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 27

A Lion and a Lamb (or a Tiger and a Wolf)

The fuzzy shape before her was saying her name again, but the words she heard sounded like echoes of someone speaking from very far away. Lupa squinted her luminescent eyes and the speaking shape came into focus.

"Jimmy Runt?"

"Yeah kid, it's me."

_I'm gonna have to talk to her about calling me that sometime_… Jimmy mused to himself.

"I am not a child, James. Please do not address me as one." Lupa may have been somewhat 'out of it' (she made a point of listening to the soldiers' banter to pick up new slang words and other useful bits of information), but she was aware enough for her temper to flare at the diminishing term.

"Alright," he responded softly. Jimmy was pretty surprised at her words, she sounded so solemn and serious, regal almost, and he had immediately felt a bit of shame.

_After everything she musta been through..., _the man reflected. He had no right to call her a kid. Victor had even said as far as he could figure she was at _least_ 70 years old.

"Where is Victor, Jimmy?"

He noticed she dropped the usual 'Runt' and strangely, he felt a bit of loss at the omission. "He's talkin' to the pilot, makin' our arrangements."

The Wolf Girl was fighting to stay conscious, she felt the pull of the sedative and dreaded the inevitable oblivion she was going to fall into. Trying to take in as much information as possible, Lupa opened her eyes wider and saw she was laying on a cream colored leather couch, Jimmy crouched by her head. They were obviously airborne, she could hear the roar of wind and feel the engine's vibrations tickling her skin through the leather.

"Where are we going?"

Just as Jimmy opened his mouth to answer, the cockpit door opened not two strides from them. Victor stepped out with a darkly satisfied look on his face. All it took for the pilot to eagerly agree to the change in destination was for Creed to lengthen his claws a couple inches and flash a fang-baring grin. God_damn_ he loved the affect he had on people!

"Victor!"

Lupa sighed out his name with such relief, that the man in question actually felt his heart clench. He moved toward her so quickly he seemed to glide across the carpeted floor. Jimmy went to sit in the chair furthest from the couple. He watched as his merciless, fearless and frightening elder brother fell down to his knees and clasped Lupa's limp hand in his.

"How ya feeling, darlin'?" Creed asked.

"Don't call me that, Victor." She tempered the words with a slight knowing, teasing smile.

"Why not?"

Jimmy could hear the irritation and suppressed anger in Victor's voice, her smile nonetheless.

"You call all women that don't you?" She calmly asked and answered, her eyelids starting to flutter shut. She seemed to be relaxing now Victor was there.

"Yeah," his reply was more of a growl now, anger more prominent this time.

Jimmy knew his dear sibling didn't like waiting and had very little patience. He hoped Lupa got to the point quick.

"That's why."

This startled Victor. _She don't wanna be called somethin' I call other frails? Ah…She wants her __**own**_ _name, somethin' I __only_ _call __her__. Somethin' that marks her as different from all those bitches._

He felt that warm, tingling glow rise up in his chest again, it was almost becoming familiar. It came whenever she did something that particularly pleased him, something that showed she was his and that's how she wanted it. He'd have to consider what endearment to use though, 'sweet-cheeks' probably wasn't along the lines she wasn't thinking. _Sexy?...Babe?...Doll face? This may take awhile…_

Now her eyes were again closed. "You'll stay with me?" Lupa murmured, voice heavy with sleep, she seemed to be struggling to stay awake long enough to hear his answer. Both men could smell her anxiety when she asked.

There was a pause before Victor spoke, "Yeah. I'll stay with you."

He was surprised at her request, surprised at scenting her relief. The only other person who had ever asked Victor Creed to watch over them while they slept – vulnerable and defenseless – had been his little brother when the brat had been just a little runt. It was also first time since then that anyone seemed to find _comfort_, _security_ in his presence.

There was no annoyance or warning in Victor's tone anymore, it had been replaced with something softer, something Jimmy couldn't readily identify. If it had been anybody but Creed, Logan would have said it was a voice revealing tenderness, even love. But despite that old feral Bear swearing male ferals took excellent care of their true mates, he hadn't really believed the mutant's claims that even a vicious, animalistic male would actually _love_ his woman. The best Logan had hoped for Lupa's future with his brother was Creed's protection, perhaps some rare, gruff displays of affection and hopefully some gentleness in the bedroom, (Logan admitted that last bit was probably very unlikely).

He watched his brother watch Lupa sleep, Victor still holding her hand. Without looking at Jimmy, Creed spoke.

"We're 'bout an hour outta the airfield in Bangor. Once ya get there, you'll be able ta access one of our accounts at a bank, get 'nuff money fer the rest of the trip. Let her rest up for a couple days in the cabin outside of town, then head up ta the rendezvous point. I'll head onto Michigan ta throw anybody stupid enough to follow us, off yer trial. When I make it to Boston I'll take of our financial shit, get our important papers an' some IDs. Talk ta some people, ask 'em ta lemme know if anybody starts lookin' fer us. After I make us disappear, I'll make my way up ta you two."

"How long do you think it'll take?" Logan asked, unable to look away from the tender scene playing out not five feet from him. A man on his knees, holding the hands of his sleeping beloved. It was as contrary as a lion watching over a lamb. The visual was such a contrast to the hard words Victor was speaking, Logan reflected that stark contrasts was probably be the most accurate way to describe how Victor and Lupa's relationship would be. Though Victor's words were cold and matter of fact, they were said quietly, softly, so as not to wake his mate.

"Under a month. I wrote her somethin'. In case Zero dosed her an' she wasn't awake when I left. It doesn't look like she'll wake up in time either. I want ya ta hold on ta it and give it ta her when she's awake. Its fer her eyes only. You will not read it, understand me little brother?" Victor had started to growl again.

"I swear I won't read it, Victor." It wasn't often that the Sabertooth showed a glimpse of his emotions and whatever was in that letter was obviously precious to the feral. Logan would not betray the trust Victor showed in having him hold a letter written for his mate.

Jimmy felt a bubble of hope rise inside of him, perhaps this note was the first step to Victor loving Lupa. No doubt there were no tender words in it, but the fact that he took the time to write anything at all had to be a good sign, right? Creed had considered how she might feel upon waking and finding him gone, at not being able to say goodbye. Jimmy wasn't even sure how much of the escape plan she had been told. If Lupa woke and she hadn't been forewarned that Victor's absence was part of the plan, well she would no doubt consider it abandonment, a betrayal. He would in her shoes.

_If he didn't tell her in person at least he wrote her to explain. He better have told her though…I don't wanna be the one to do it if he didn't. It'll be bad enough givin' her the letter if she sleeps through her chance to say goodbye…_

The brothers felt the jet begin to descend, the slight change in air pressure and the nose dropping to a more downward angle was more than enough to alert them.

"Here we go."

oOo

**A/N: OK, so I'm gonna be closing the poll on my profile in a couple days, so if you haven't voted, better do it soon. Also I need suggestions on the pet name Victor will use for Lupa, my favorite one will be used with full credit going to the suggester (is that a word? I don't think that's a word…). You can either PM your ideas or leave a review. Oh and please review! Reviewers get cupcakes!**

**P.S. If you were curious, Bangor is in Maine.**


	28. Two Former Maniac Rangers

**Chapter 26 Thank You's:**

**mandya1313 – Grazie! (Italian)**

**xPrincetonx – Oh no! Is your computer all better yet? I'm going through withdrawal here… ;-]**

**At the Heart of the Storm – I'd love to read your story! Let me know when you post it!**

**NightStalkerBlade –I love cookies too. I love cupcakes more though. But not as much as Victor…**

**tulip tea – Poor Dukes, he might make an appearance in the future though…He's fun to write.**

**kungfupandabear – LOL! Love the review, made me laugh!**

**Chapter 27 Thank Thee's:**

**DieHardLiveLong – Thank you so much!!!**

**xPrincetonx – Cupy cake! I LIKE it! LOL! What do you think of the pet name 'luv'?**

**mandya1313 - Dōmo arigatō (Japanese)**

**Obscure Stranger – Yeah, he is awesome, isn't he? *Sigh***

**Gothicpug – Love your new chapter! I'm a little nervous about Victor's note, but once again the plot bunnies insisted that he wrote her.**

**kungfupandabear – Thanks for reviewing again, muah!**

**Fyrefly – Kitten would be perfect, it's so sweet…maybe he could use it in an ironic way? Glad you liked the chapter, I'm pretty proud of it m'self. XD**

**tulip tea – Yet another wonderful review, thanks again my darling girl!**

**My Beautiful Ending – "He can call me Flower if he wants to…" (I LOVED Bambi!). Thanks for the review, I'm glad that Lupa is coming off like I hoped she would. Someone who can balance Creed almost, not be a push over or a "frail." Love love love your pen name btw, very dreamy!**

**Thanks also to The Wolf With Tears, ninjamonkey20, Tainted Griffin, Wunmii, and lilbrokenangel for favoriting/alerting!**

**Once again, I own nothing Marvel/Stan Lee own.**

Chapter 28

Two Former Maniac Rangers

After landing on the field in the outskirts of Bangor, Maine, Jimmy was the first off the jet, he never was fond of flying. Victor followed his brother outside more slowly after scooping Lupa up into his arms. He tried to not to notice how his heartbeat was drumming inside his chest, pounding faster the closer he was getting to leaving his mate.

The men started walking toward a tiny cabin that bordered the improvised landing strip. It wasn't much to look at, but abandoned Ranger stations usually aren't. The brothers knew about this spot from their time spent in Maine right after World War II, they'd been Forest Rangers for a while (Logan's idea) and the two of them had built the one room shack themselves. After about 10 years they'd had to leave Bangor (Victor's fault) but since they'd never told anybody about their cabin it should be safe enough for one or two nights.

Going inside, the brothers were pleased to see their craftsmanship had stood the test of time. Windows were still shuttered shut, no holes or leaks in the roof and no sign of any animal infestation. Victor walked over to his old cot, intending to put Lupa down.

"No! Wait!" Jimmy called out suddenly.

"WHAT?!" Creed snarled back.

"Lemme put one of the furs down first, they'll be cleaner than that damn mattress, I wrapped them up in oilskin before we got run outta town," Jimmy could almost smile at the memory. Almost.

"We didn't get run out, we left before they could run us out," Victor corrected.

"Some difference."

While talking Jimmy had found a couple bear pelts in a chest, unwrapped them and spread one down on Creed's cot. "OK, _now_ put her down."

Victor looked at his little brother and was torn between amusement and fury. Amusement because here were two grown feral men, both well over one hundred years old, both blooded, hardened veterans of four major wars, fussing over a girl's bedding. Fury because HE wanted to be the one who had thought of the furs first. HE should have thought of it because HE was her mate and NOT Jimmy! Victor was angry and jealous but also grateful for the help, and he struggled with the paradox.

Though he might have preferred fighting an entire army to listening to his younger brother, the Sabertooth reminded himself that what was best for Lupa was worth anything, even his life, so why not his so called pride? He kept his mouth shut and lay the drugged woman down. Grabbing the remaining bearskin from Jimmy's hands, Victor gently covered Lupa with it.

"I gotta get back before the pilot gets any ideas." Creed broke the silence.

"We'll stay the night here and I'll go into town tomorrow for cash and food. We'll move on as soon as she's up for it," Jimmy said.

Victor reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He paused and seemed to consider something, then took off his coat. He handed Jimmy the paper, "Give this to her when her head's on straight again. Don't read it. Not even if she asks ya to."

Jimmy scrunched his face in confusion as he put the paper in his own pocket, _Why would she ask me to read it? And what the hell did he write that's got him so irrational and paranoid about me reading it?_

"I won't read it. Not even if she asks." Irrational or not, Victor was his brother and he'd do all he could to set him at ease.

Victor then threw Jimmy his infamous black wool coat. "She's gonna need somethin' ta keep her warm," as his explanation. He briefly flashed a fang-baring grin, proud for thinking of this by himself, _See, I'm learnin'! I'll figure out this mate shit right quick._

Besides, he liked the idea of her wearing his jacket, wrapped up in something he'd worn for decades. It marked her belonging to him. His scent would settle on her skin and hair, mix with her own delicious aroma. Maybe the coat would even bring her some…comfort, cause her to think of him. These thoughts pleased Victor.

Perhaps subconsciously Victor left his coat for Lupa hoping it could protect her somehow, it was stained with his own blood and sweat as well as his enemy's blood and tears. The fabric was practically alive, or at least an extension of himself. It was legendary in its' own right, as well. Anyone who knew Creed knew that jacket. Even folks that had only heard of him knew about it. _A beast of a man who wears a midnight colored trench coat and has a lion's claws and fangs_, the stories went. Victor was always slightly chagrined about that line, _It's a sabertooth TIGER not a sabertooth LION._

Turning serious, Victor broke the silence that developed after he handed over his jacket. "If I'm not at the rendezvous point within six months…don't come looking for me, Jimmy. Take Lupa and run. Something will have happened and the most important thing is to keep her safe. After a year, in the spring, go to where we last saw our father. Stay for a few weeks and if I can, I'll meet you two. If I don't, come back the next spring, and the next."

It was incredibly hard for Victor to say the next words, but he forced himself to. _For Lupa._ "After ten years…If I haven't found you by then it means I'm probably dead and I want you…I want you to be whatever she needs you to be."

Jimmy made to interrupt, but Creed silenced him. "Be whatever she needs if I'm gone." This was almost too much for Victor and his guts felt like they were being cut up by knives. His only consolation was that if he had to be replaced then at least it would be by Logan who could protect her. And in some sick way, Victor was almost glad that it was his brother who would replace him if he died.

"Now, swear to me you'll take care of her until I come back. Swear it!" Victor almost roared the last words.

Lupa made a small mewling sound at the sudden noise and shifted on the narrow bed. Immediately Victor kneeled and started petting her hair with his massive paw, the soothing action calmed them both. He looked to his brother expectantly.

"I swear it." Jimmy solemnly promised.

The animal who dreamed he was a man and woke to find the dream had become real, gazed at his mate. He branded her image into his memory, memorizing every detail about her to tide him over while they were separated. The way her skin smelled like peaches and summer, her starry eyes, her delicate little claws, and the how her soft brown curls wound around his fingers, holding him to her.

It was time to go. Victor Creed stood allowed himself one last glimpse of his Wolf Girl. Then he turned, looked into his brother's eyes briefly and walked out of the cabin, back into the night and back to the waiting jet.

**A/N: Please review, it guarantees updates! Plus reviews make me HAPPY and happy authors write faster! Oh and a 'Maniac' (see chapter title: "Two Former Maniac Rangers") is someone who was born in Maine… It's a play on words…Get it?**


	29. Tears in America

**A/N: Thanks to:**

**kungfupandabear – LOL, funny review. Yeah, I don't think Sabey'd like that very much…**

**taterandtotsrule – Great name, here's your very own update! ;-)**

**FrailMarie – Don't worry, Vicki's coming up in the next chapter!**

**mandya1313 – ****Efcharisto (Greek)**

**Gothicpug – Don't worry, I drool over Victor and loose time too, we should start a club. Gotta love a man in uniform…**

**My Beautiful Ending - ****Loved your review, had me giggling like a dentist on laughing gas. Maniac Power Rangers…LOL**

**Chan – Next chappie will have our guy! Thanks for revewing!**

**xPrincetonx – Loved the new chapter! So glad your computer's fixed, I was wicked worried (still am) about Acadia!**

**tulip tea – You flatter me, darling girl, so glad you liked the chapter, I was proud of it!**

**Lil Mizz Blondi – Here ya Blonde Babe!**

**Obscure Stranger – Yeah, I second that. Victor is waaaay hot.**

**CrystalDreams72 – Holy crap thanks for reviewing! I'm a HUGE fan of your story so I'm uber thrilled you're reading mine! **

**Thanks also to dog demon katsunie and nixnocent for favoriting/alerting! Oh, and I own nothing other people do. **

Chapter 29

Tears in America

When she awoke she was warm, as warm as when Victor held her in his arms. But she wasn't in his arms now. She was wrapped in bearskin, lying on a cot next to another cot on which Jimmy-Runt sat reading. The pelt did smell faintly of Victor though, as if he'd slept in it himself years ago. Lupa took a moment to assess the situation. She felt better, the drugs had run their course and she hadn't slept in such comfort for years. She still felt incredibly weak and her injuries continued to ache something awful, but the solid sleep did her body good.

_Where is Victor? Perhaps he is outside fetching something…Maybe hunting? But couldn't Jimmy be doing that? Why isn't he here with me?_ The female wondered. She was so deep in thought she almost didn't hear Logan speak.

"Good morning. Or good afternoon I guess."

"Good day, Jimmy. Jimmy…Where is Victor?"

_Figures he'd be the first thing she'd ask about. Damn, I hate this_…Jimmy mused before answering.

"He's taking care of some stuff, some uh, business. Here, let's get you fed first, then we can talk. I went to town this mornin' and picked up some supplies, we're safe here for a few days so you can rest up some before we move on."

"Oh. Alright."

Jimmy moved over to the wood stove and started cooking a good New England breakfast: eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast. He grabbed some orange juice from the old fashioned ice box and poured Lupa a glass. As he cooked he tried to set his charge at ease.

"We're in Maine, Bangor, Maine. In, uh, America." Jimmy found he was surprisingly shy around this girl, _No, this woman. She may look like she's 20, but she ain't. _

"Have I been in the United States the whole time? Back there?" Lupa asked haltingly.

"Yeah, you were in Pennsylvania before, Bangor's a little over 600 miles north from there."

Once breakfast was done cooking and they started to eat the ice began to break a bit. Lupa told him how Styker stole her from Russia and how she and Dukes became something almost like friends. She glossed over what the white coats did to her when Logan asked, and even then he released his bone claws out of anger on her behalf. His claws fascinated Lupa and somehow while she was asking questions about them she got him to tell some stories of his own.

Without him realizing it, the subject had changed and Jimmy was sharing memories of his own, ones of him and Victor as young boys. Funny ones, where he wasn't sick and their father wasn't hurting Victor. They both laughed gently after the story about a 13 year old Victor getting his ass stung by dozens of bees while stealing honey for Logan. They almost managed to forget that Victor wasn't just out chopping firewood or hunting for dinner; he was gone.

After their breakfast for lunch, Logan took Lupa by the hand and sat down next to her on Victor's cot. The question was, _How much to tell her?_ He held her hand as he spoke.

"Victor's not here, not in Bangor or in Maine. He's gone-working on keeping Stryker off our trail. When he's done making sure you're safe we're all gonna meet up."

Lupa looked up at him with wide, silver eyes that had started to water. "But, but…_**Te **__**vakerel pet te ka avavas hatch devlesa man!**__" _

The Wolfgirl slipped back into her native Romani as tears slipped down her face. "_**Sar merel te muk man? Me mislinel te**__...Cared"_

Logan's heart almost hurt listening to her speak, she sounded so sad, so abandoned. _That damned idiot! He didn't tell her jack shit about the plan! Left me to tell her so he wouldn't have to watch her cry._

"He'll be back. He just needs to take care of some things first. He, he left you somethin'." Jimmy reached into his back pocket and held a folded piece of paper in his hand. Lupa took it hesitantly, as if she half expected it to turn into a snake and bite her.

Logan noticed how quiet she was being while crying. She didn't make any of the usual female sounds, she didn't moan or whimper or whine or sob hysterically, just let the tears run down her cheeks and over her lips. They fell onto the paper she held now, staining it with her silent sadness.

Still looking down at it but not opening it she spoke, "What does it say?"

"He made me promise not to read it. Not even if you asked me to. I'm not sure why, I expect he'll explain everything in it though. I'll let ya read it. Be outside if ya need anythin'."

With that he walked out of the one room cabin, trying to give Lupa some space and privacy. He didn't want her to feel crowded or embarrassed so Logan figured he could chop some wood to pass the time. His heart was in the right place, but if only he had stayed a moment longer before closing the shack's door. If he had he would have heard the words she whispered and saved her much heartache and grief to come.

"But Jimmy, I don't know how to read."

**A/N: Yes, this one is really short but next chapter will be up either tomorrow night or the next if I get some lovings (AKA reviews). Remember, stop by my profile to get your cupcakes and to vote in the story poll. Right now it's tied so I'm leaving it up until the 27****th**** of December. If you haven't voted, vote! And if you've reviewed cupcakes are available for pick up on my profile.**

**The translation to what Lupa said in Romani are below, it's an extremely rough one so please forgive me.**

*****He said he would stay with me! How could he leave me? I thought he…Cared.*****


	30. White Paper, Black Words

**A/N: Nope, still own nada! Thanks to:**

**Lil Mizz Blondi – Aw, don't be sad, he's gotta make sure Lupa's safe first…**

**xPrincetonx – LOL, glad you were surprised, I figured when the hell would she had ever been able to learn to read English?!**

**Obscure Stranger – Yeah, I think I'd go crazy if I didn't know how to read, I love to read!**

**My Beautiful Ending – I adore the phrase 'sticky wicket!' Freaking awesome man. **

**kungfupandabear – Damn! I'm gonna have to work on my surprises…**

**mandya1313 – Dankie! (****Afrikaans****)**

**And thanks also to Mrs. Bass-Malfoy and Lizard Demon from Pluto for favoriting/alerting! **

**Really appreciate all the support from you all!**

Chapter 30

White Paper, Black Words

Lupa looked down at the white paper she held unfeelingly in her hands. Opening it, she saw her Victor's handwriting for the first time. He had written on unlined paper so the sentences were crooked and uneven, but they still sent a rush of relief through her. The words were messy, made up of small, angular, cramped letters.

_What was he thinking as he wrote these words to me? What was he feeling? Anger, sadness, regret?_

Victor had pressed down hard on the paper while writing; the words were embossed as much as written.

_He must have been feeling _some_ strong emotion as he wrote, unless he always writes this firmly…But this feels angry somehow. When we first met Victor did say he didn't like Stryker keeping secrets from him. I suppose my presence qualifies as a pretty big secret. He was probably angry…_

The letter wasn't long, only taking up a third of the page. He had used a black pen and there were smudges from where his hand had brushed against the still wet ink. Since the words in themselves meant nothing to Lupa, she was forced to look at the note as she would a painting or drawing. That is, with her heart rather than her brain, reading the emotions left behind on the paper rather than the words.

_The first word at the top of the page is short, maybe my name or some small endearment? He is not the type of man for long, flowery pet names; he's had too hard a life. From what Jimmy Runt has said, Victor was more of a father to him than a brother after they ran away. Only four years apart but the responsibility must have aged him quickly._

The last three words, at the very bottom of the page were also fairly short. Two words was over the other, the lower one presumably his name. The letters that made up his name were sharp and harsh looking; the first letter seemed as if he had cut it into the paper itself. The visual image seemed befitting to Victor, Lupa reflected.

_But what has he written above it? He would not write ' with love,' would he? No, he is not like that, he would not be that open, that revealing. Maybe it's just something like 'until later' or 'with respect.' That was how Zsiga sometimes ended his letters to his parents. _

The first summer it was safe enough for the Roma to come out of hiding and make their annual trip to Budapest, Zsiga's younger sister had been kind enough to visit the carnival and read all his battlefield correspondence aloud to Lupa. It was the summer after the war ended and a few weeks later Zsiga returned home. Not a month after that was gone again, only this time it wasn't in uniform to fight for his family and country.

Trying shake off the bitter memories, Lupa returned her thoughts to Victor and his note. The black ink was a stark contrast on the white paper and combined with the unintelligible, foreign symbols, the letter should have been intimidating and not at all appealing to the Wolf Girl, but somehow it was. Though perhaps she found comfort in it just because it was from Victor and Lupa knew he had written it for her. It was something he had held in his hands and spent time on, something tangible he had left for her.

_I will wait for him. Jimmy says he will return to me and I will ask what he has written here. I will ask him if he really meant it when he said I belonged to him. Until then I will wait for him._

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

**Very Early That Morning and Almost 1000 Miles Away in Flint, Michigan**

Victor Creed was walking away from the Lear 35A jet fully engulfed in flames; he figured he had about 45 more seconds till the gas tanks blew. One of the reasons Victor had chosen to have the Runt stay with Lupa instead of taking care of the final details of their disappearance was 'cause he knew Jimmy wouldn't of had the stomach to kill the pilot. And it had to be done. Stryker was bound to find the jet sooner rather than later and the pilot could not be around to tell the Colonel they'd made a stop in Maine before going onto Flint, plain and simple. The whole fucking point of splitting up was to throw off the trail, make Stryker think they'd gone northwest instead of northeast.

Victor would not let anything or anyone fuck this up, he had to make it safe for Lupa, he _needed_ her to be safe. And, as the old saying went, 'if you want things done right, you gotta do it yourself.' So he stayed on the plane despite all of his instincts screaming at him to stay close to his mate, not to let another male near her, not even his brother. Creed tried to calm the animal inside of him, recounting all the reasons why it was best this way.

On top of the whole 'no stomach for necessary cold blooded murder,' Victor was the one who handled their financials. Creed was a smarter man than most folks gave him credit for, which was actually how he liked it, something about underestimating the opponent. He had started playing in the stock market over half a century ago and found he had an unusual talent for it. Now both the brothers had more than enough money for a few lifetimes. The money was scattered around the world, mostly in bank accounts, but they had cash stashed in a few major cities for emergencies. Boston was their hub, their home base and favored city. It was an old place practically drowning in history but instead of overwhelming the men, its age comforted them. Their accounting firm, finance manager and principle bank were located there as well.

The Sabertooth was also the one with all the contacts, not Jimmy. And did Creed have contacts. Top dogs in over a dozen governments, including the U.S., owed him favors. He knew people in every different branch of the US military and even in some of the initialed organizations like the CIA*, the SIS* and the NSA.* Only he would be able to spread the word about his and Jimmy's retirement. Only Victor had people he could trust to watch his back, to contact him if Stryker started hunting him down. Yeah, it fucking sucked, but it had to be done. And Victor Fucking Creed would do anything for his mate. Absolutely anything…

Victor mentally ticked off his to do list. _Dispose of pilot: check. Ditch the plane: double check. Make it to Boston: in progress. _First off he'd need some wheels…

**A/N: Please, please, PLEASE review, you know you want to. It's so easy too, just click that little button at the bottom of this page and type out a couple lines. And I swear it won't hurt, either! ;-] **

***CIA = Central Intelligence Agency (U.S.)**

***SIS = Secret Intelligence Serve (U.K.) [AKA MI6, or where Bond, James Bond works]**

***NSA = National Security Agency (U.S.)**


	31. As Time Goes By

**A/N: Wow! This is a looong chapter compared to my other ones. I can only give credit to the Muses who control the plot bunnies. Thanks to:**

**DreamingCowgirl – Thanks for a wonderful, lovely review! I'm really happy that I'm explaining/writing the mates part OK. I partly wrote this cause I've read other stories/books where there are 'mates' but like nada is explained about being a 'mate!' Hope you like this new chapter!**

**Gothicpug – Seriously, Victor's a total secret agent man! Can't wait to read the next update of MoR!!!**

**LiveFreeDieWell – Thanks man! That's really nice to hear! :-D**

**QuirkyCullen – Aw! Thanks for two really sweet reviews! I love reading detailed ones like yours, it's addictive! Hope this new chapter lives up to expectations! :-]**

**xPrincetonx – When's my update, biyatch? I need my LL&M fix! ;-]**

**My Beautiful Ending – Yeah, I mean, vampires are always rich cause they have all this time to steal/win money so why should ferals be any different? Or am I crazy? :-/**

**tulip tea – No worries mate, it's busy days this time of year. Glad to have you back doll!**

**mandya1313 – Danyuvaad! (Hindi)**

**Alicia Marianne – Sorry, gonna have to wait for Vicki to get back before I'll reveal the contents of the letter…Loved you new update, btw.**

**NightStalkerBlade – Yeah, I think most healthy, sane people would cry then. I mean, that's like the icing on the cake of suckiness! Right?**

**Also, thank you to ****wolverinelover667894****, The Mouse's Rose, ****ChiyukiLuvs2Glomp**** and ****aislinn aira**** for favoriting/alerting! **

**Oh, and please don't sue me, nothing you recognize is mine.**

Chapter 31

As Time Goes By…

That first day was the hardest for both Jimmy and Lupa. After giving her Victor's note, he had waited about a half an hour then returned to the cabin. The feral figured that was long enough for her to compose herself if she had cried while reading it, but not too long so that she'd start to get nervous about him disappearing too.

When he came back inside he saw Lupa was still sitting on the cot, holding the paper in limp hands. She was staring off into space, a blank look on her face and in her dry eyes. It was then Jimmy remembered Victor's overcoat. When he handed it over to her, he explained how Victor left it for her, how he wanted to make sure she was warm. She let out one heart rending whimper as she clutched it to her chest and breathed in _His_ soothing scent.

Both ferals avoided speaking Victor's name after that.

After dinner, Jimmy revealed he had not only bought food in town, but also boots and clothes for Lupa. 'The essentials,' as he'd called them: some underwear, socks, a couple thermal long sleeved shirts, a t-shirt, a pair of jeans and a pair of sweatpants. He'd estimated her size pretty well, and though the clothes were a little too big now, Logan said she'd put on some weight soon enough now she was being fed regular like.

Lupa beamed at the man when he had given her the clothes and the beauty of her smile startled him. He'd never noticed that his brother's mate was pretty. Sure she looked like she'd been put through the wringer, all beaten up and too thin, but he could almost see beyond that and catch a glimpse of what she might look like if someone stuck around long enough to take care of her. To care about her. She actually looked cute wearing that too big overcoat all the time. It swamped her small frame and made her look like a child playing dress up in daddy's clothes.

Shaking these thoughts off, Logan hauled out the brothers' old wooden bath tub and brought it close to the fire. "Feel like taking a bath?" He grinned at Lupa, he'd always been the brother better with women and Jimmy knew women did like to be clean.

Jimmy was rewarded with another blinding smile. She looked at him with such gratitude that the Runt felt his chest swell. After heating up enough water to fill the tub, the male feral went outside to patrol while his brother's female bathed. When she finished washing off the weeks of filth and blood and sweat, the Wolf Girl was exhausted. She combed her clean hair, dressed in her new shirt and sweatpants and crawled back into _His_ old cot. Lupa snuggled deep inside the bear pelts, surrendering to sleep immediately wrapped in her mate's overcoat. She was too tired to let worries plague her mind. She did not even dream.

oOoOoOoOoOo

They spent two nights in the cabin outside Bangor. Long enough for Logan to get some cash from his New York account wired to the local bank-he was always grateful for his older brother's genius at makin' money. They stayed long enough for Lupa to start her recovery from Stryker's 'hospitality.'

The second morning Jimmy bought an old Ford pick-up truck and the two ferals started driving north. The Runt told her it should take about seven or eight hours to get to the island he was taking her to. It was in Canada, the country the brothers had been born in, though they were from the Northwest Territories themselves.

When she asked what the island was called, he'd smiled and asked her if she'd ever read any books by Lucy Montgomery. Lupa was momentarily struck dumb. She too ashamed to admit to _His_ brother that she couldn't read. Would Jimmy Runt think she wasn't good enough for Him? So she simply said no and hid her face in her mate's coat, breathing deeply. Jimmy noticed she'd do that whenever she got upset, he figured she was trying to smell _Him_, that she found some kind of comfort in _His_ scent.

Seeing her withdraw, now Logan was ashamed, he had embarrassed her. _Of course she hasn't read them, you jackass! Where do ya think she grew up?! A goddamn finishing school?! Nice going, bub…_

"It's called Prince Edward Island. A Canadian woman named Lucy Montgomery wrote some famous books that are set there…It's beautiful. I, uh, I think you'll like it. Victor should meet us there in a month or so."

It was the first time since Logan had given her the letter and coat that either one had said His name. The truck fell into silence again.

oOoOoOoOoOo

They spent their first night on Prince Edward Island in a grand Victorian era hotel right off the beach. It was the first time she'd seen the ocean. They walked together barefoot on the beach, underneath the starlight.

The next afternoon, Logan only drove around with a realtor for a few hours before he found the perfect place to rent.

It was a large, two story cottage with two fireplaces and came fully furnished. The whitewashed, shingled structure had three bedrooms and two bathrooms and a bright blue front door. A beautiful garden flourished in the backyard overlooking the sea and was furnished with white wicker chairs.

Jimmy's favorite feature, and a key deciding factor in him signing a six month lease, was the fact their closest neighbor was 5 miles to the east of them and the nearest town another 10 miles beyond that. The other factor was the house's layout on the property.

The cottage sat on top of a hill with the beach 50 yards at its rear and dense woods at its flanks. Stryker's forces wouldn't be able to fly because there was no room for a plane to land. A helicopter was out 'cause they would need the entire X-Team plus reinforcements to take down Victor and Logan, and a heli' couldn't fit 'em all. A boat wouldn't work either, there were too many underwater rocks striking up from the seabed, just waiting to slice open unsuspecting hulls-Jimmy'd checked. And so would Stryker.

They'd have to come by car, and the only feasible point of entry for them would be the front entrance, just like those damn Jehovah's Witnesses*. They'd be funneled up the long dirt driveway as it wound its way through thick trees. The fuckin' thing was almost three miles before it reached the cottage.

Inside said cottage, two of the bedrooms sat side by side. The master bedroom was at the opposite end of the house. Jimmy figured that while his brother was gone he and Lupa could use the bedrooms next door to each other and later the mates could move to the larger, more distant bedroom. The Sabertooth did like his space.

Lupa spent their first week there falling asleep. She'd drift off in front of the fire while listening to a record player in the living room. Or on the daybed in the library while Logan tried to recount all the different places the brothers had traveled to. Every time he'd take her out in the garden she would conk out curled up in the hammock he'd bought in town. Once she even took an "accidental nap", which was what the Wolf Girl preferred to call them, on the kitchen table right after breakfast. To be fair, it was the morning after they'd moved in and the two ferals had spent the previous evening rearranging all the furniture in their temporary home to their liking.

On the seventh night in the cottage, her tenth without _Him_, Jimmy Runt took out Lupa's stitches. The female feral's healing factor was slowly starting to kick in with a consistent supply of food and plenty of rest. Lupa also stopped taking accidental naps.

When Logan wasn't keeping Lupa company, he was patrolling the woods around the house, "getting to know the land," he said. She knew he was really looking out for Stryker's men, for signs that their enemies had found them. But she never said anything to Jimmy; she let him believe she believed his excuse for all those "walks," even the ones at night.

The second and third week the Wolf Girl spent eating. Years of malnutrition and near starvation had shrunk her stomach, so she wasn't able to eat a lot in one sitting. Instead, the female nibbled on bits of food all day long: an apple, some bread, a granola bar. She really liked peanut butter sandwiches and homemade beef jerky. She did not like bananas, however, said the smell sickened her. Spaghetti with meatballs was a roaring success though. As were nuts of all forms and varieties.

Jimmy teased her and called her a squirrel, saying she hoarded and held onto her food with both hands like one of those "tree rats."

And Lupa did remind him of squirrel sometimes. But he joked about it to dispel the angry sadness he felt watching her eat. She would sit hunched over with her knees pressed to her chest, starry eyes darting around the room, looking for all the world like she was waiting for someone to jump up from the shadows and snatch her meal away. She reminded him of a wild animal at those times, a creature desperate for nourishment, for security and safety, for a brief moment of respite.

There is a reason wild things have such short life spans. Their existence is hard, perilous and full of fear.

By the fourth week, Jimmy was beginning to allow Lupa to go outside for more than 30 minutes at a time. But still only with him by her side and only in their little flower garden. Her body was almost completely healed, bruises faded away into pale greens and yellows and all cuts and gashes closed. Her wounds were slipping into memories now. She had even gained weight. Jimmy Runt said she was still five or 10 pounds too skinny but Lupa's bones didn't angle out beneath her skin anymore. Her cheeks weren't as drawn and her chocolate curls were shiny again.

And everyday Lupa half expected _Him_ to appear. Jimmy Runt had told her his brother said "within a month," but could it be sooner? Would it be sooner?

Did He think of her? She thought of Him. She thought of Him every day, every hour of every day. She missed Him too. The feel of His warmth, His skin touching hers. Looking into cold blue eyes and listening to a husky voice, hearing Him purr to her. The Wolf Girl even missed the tingle of fear that ran up her spine when He used _that_ voice. The one that made the Runt freeze and Dukes smell like he was planning on choosing flight rather than fight.

She missed Him, that bastard. The one who left her with His little brother without saying goodbye. Of course Lupa understood that time had been short and she had been unconscious and He _did_ leave behind a note…It was just…! And He hadn't told her that they would separate! On the plane she'd asked Him if he'd stay with her and He said He would! Though maybe He thought she only meant on the plane, she hadn't exactly been specific at the time...

_Things were never this complicated in the circus, _Lupa reflected without much emotion.

**A/N: So all of you who voted in the poll (all 13 of you, LOL) have decided! It was seven to six which means I'll be ending ****The Feral**** in the next few chapters and writing a sequel. I need some opinions on what happens next though. Should Victor reappear and commence Creed style wooing or should I save the wooing for the sequel? Thanks to all the voters, you guys get double cupcakes! **

**Please review with your thoughts, opinions and theories on the meaning of life. All are welcome. **

**Now remember, lots of reviews = happy author. Happy author = fast update. You review = you get a cupcake. ;-]**

***Don't mean to offend anyone out there (Jehovah's Witness or not), just a little joke, and a bad one at that. Jimmy Runt said it anyway, not me.**


	32. Shadows in Boston

**Me own nada. They own mucho. Thank to the following for reviewing:**

**QuirkyCullen – Of COURSE I mentioned you! You're officially my newest fan, right? LOL. Thanks for reviewing again, you totally rock!**

**My Beautiful Ending – Whew, I'm glad I'm not crazy then. What the hell else is an immortal gonna do? Everybody's gotta have a hobby so why not the stock market? ;-]**

**kungfupandabear – Oh yeah, total filler. But I needed to buy some time for the plot bunnies, those little bastards disappear at the worst times! **

**MaraudingVampire – Thanks for reviewing, I LOVE seeing readers' ideas and what they want to happen!**

**xPrincetonx – Damn Skippy, you'll let me know if you get any ideas, Skippy! (Like the nickname reference? Sometimes I amuse even myself…) **

**LiveFreeDieWell – OMG I LOVED reading your review! Thanks soooo much for sharing your ideas and suggestions, they really inspired me! Let me know if you get any more!!!**

**NightStalkerBlade – Wanna join my club? It's called the I.I.L.W.V.C.A.I.K.I.C.F.I. club, AKA the I'm In Love With Victor Creed And I Know I'm Crazy For It Club.**

Chapter 32

Shadows in Boston

It was taking longer than he thought. Getting to Boston was easy. So was rearranging all the financial shit. Well, that wasn't exactly easy, but Creed's reputation and skillful negotiation tactics (which mostly consisted of silent death glares and the occasional fang bearing smile-worked every time on the suits) ensured that it was at least _quick_. And spreading the word amongst his contacts about keepin' an eye on Stryker for Victor was easy as pie. A whole fucking pie.

It was the fact he could practically feel a pair of eyes on his back 24/7. Someone was watching him. Following him around the city, from the financial district to Back Bay. It started two days after he'd arrived in Boston, the second week away from Lupa.

They were pretty good too. He hadn't yet been able to catch more than the shadow's scent, though. So Victor stayed in Boston even after he had wrapped up his business. He wanted to catch the rat before returning to his Wolfgirl. _Don't bring trouble home to the den._ And as much as Creed hated having his mate out of sight, let alone out of state, he had to stay and set a rat trap.

He didn't miss her though, just didn't like it when she wasn't near him-there was a difference. He wasn't a fuckin' pussy. Even though he thought about her a thousand times a day and saw her in his dreams every night the Sabertooth did not miss frails. But everything seemed to remind him of her. A woman crossing the street who had the same color curls, an advertisement for an exhibit on Gypsy, oh excuse me, _Romani_, artwork at the Museum of Fine Arts. Victor was even catching himself wanting to take Lupa places, show her things. _Would she like seeing a game at Fenway Park?_ Shit, the other day he saw a silk kimono in a storefront window and actually fucking bought it for her cause he thought she'd like it.

But he didn't miss her.

When he'd been away from his Lupa for five weeks, Victor had enough. He was tired of waiting. Since the X-Team and a bunch of black op guys hadn't stormed his apartment in the middle of the night, he figured Stryker ordered the rat to follow Creed until he led them back to Lupa. A female feral in captivity _was_ quite the commodity.

Victor wandered up Newbury Street where rich Euro trash shopped and ate in outdoor cafes next to homeless teenagers playing acoustic guitar for spare change. The crowd was always thick this time of day but the alleys wonderfully deserted. Ducking around a corner into one such alley, the Sabertooth waited for his prey.

_There he is_. Victor saw the rat stop at the same corner and try to peer through the crowd for his query. The feral reached out and grabbed him, clamping the shadow's mouth shut with a calloused hand. Creed dragged the prey further into the dark alley, out of the street's sight behind a dumpster. Slamming the rat against the brick wall, Victor chuckled. He lifted the rat a foot off the ground and drove his claws into fleshy shoulders, using the red brick for support.

The guy was young, white, in his mid 20s and a mutant. "What's your name, little boy?" Sabertooth growled out.

"Mike." The kid bit out, sneering at his attacker. He had beady, close set eyes and two gold teeth.

"No ya dumb fuck, yer _real_ name." Victor was now all out snarling. The little bastard smelled dirty and hateful. He was near pissin' his pants too.

"Tracker."

The old as fuck feral all out laughed now. "Tracker?! Lemme guess. Yer a tracker."

The young man nodded jerkily. Victor snorted, _Original._

"Well then, _Tracker_. Who. Sent. You?" Sabertooth dug deeper with his claws, tearing meat and sinew.

"Stryker!" The younger mutant hissed, saliva spraying out from between his lips. The kid was seething, though the fear was still there alright. Victor inwardly snickered. _If looks could kill…And if only that was his mutation instead of him bein' a sneaky little shit…"_

The little joke had Victor smirking for days afterwards.

"So tell me _Tracker_, 'm all ears, what'd the Colonel order you ta do?"

"Follow you. Find out where the girl was stashed and call him when I did." Tracker rushed the words out in hope Creed would ease the stabbing pressure on his shoulder muscles.

He wasn't rewarded.

"When'd you two last talk and what'dya say?"

"We talked yesterday. I told him I didn't think you knew about me and it looked like you were wrapping things up here. That it seemed like she was somewhere else and you were heading back to her soon. Stryker said to stay back and just follow you."

Creed could tell Tracker was tellin' the truth. If he'd lied Victor woulda scented it. Lies smell the same on everybody, it was faint but always there. It was a god awful, sickly-sweet stench. Like the recently dead. Little Mikey smelled like terror, pain and sputtering rage, not a fresh battlefield corpse.

"When you two next supposed ta talk?" The feral retracted his claws a bit, maybe a half inch. Tracker groaned in relief.

"I'm supposed to call him before you take off. If there's no time then he said to call the first time I was could without risking losing you. That's it!"

"Good boy." Suddenly Victor removed one set of claws from Tracker's shoulder muscles and wrapped them around the rat's bare throat. He tightened his grip so now the claws were cutting into soft, thin skin. "Now is there anything else I should know? Anything you've forgotten or left out, maybe?"

"No! I swear on my mother's fucking grave that's everything! He barely gave me any information when he assigned me to follow you and we've only talked twice since then! I don't even know the girl's name! I swear to fucking god that's it!" Tracker was empathetic in his declarations. Smelled truthful too.

"OK then." And with one swift motion, the Sabertooth snapped Tracker's neck. Victor dumped the body in the nearby dumpster and walked out of the alley, joining the flowing crowd.

**A/N: So next chappie's gonna be more of Victor since you all asked so nicely. PLEASE keep reviewing and sharing your ideas and suggestions for what should happen next and for the sequel! The reviews for updates (and cupcakes) program is working beautifully!**


	33. Mistakes

**A/N: Only Lupa and any other OCs belong to me, everything belongs to Stan Lee and Marvel and movie people. **

**OK, so this chapter doesn't have Victor in it like I said it would in the previous chappie. Sorry bout that, the story took on a life of its own. Thanks to:**

**kungfupandabear – Yeah plot bunnies are total drama queens, they swoop in and out at random moments. **

**tulip tea – LOL, yeah he does miss her, but the big bad Sabertooth can't admit that.**

**ObscureStranger – Strangely terrifying yet still attractive and sexy. That's our Victor, LOL.**

**Gothicpug – Yay, you updated MoR!!! Loved the new chappie!**

**QuirkyCullen – Aw, thanks for reviewing again, doll face! ;-***

**My Beautiful Ending – Don't worry, I'm a sucker for those kind of endings too. But not for a while yet for Victor and Lupa…**

**xPrincetonx – Cupy cake still gets me every time, LOL! Great update, BTW!**

**NightStalkerBlade – OK, so that makes like three of us so far in the club…**

**taterandtotsrule – Happy New Year to you too! Here's your update! XD**

**mandya1313 – LOL, yeah, a quick death is really the best you can ask for from Victor, right? **

**And thanks to Mary-Jane Gibbson, Risiska and ****Lady-Kiki-Theevilmastermind**** for alerting!**

Chapter 33

Mistakes

Victor Creed rarely made a mistake. In fact, it hadn't happened in almost 20 years. But he made one that day in Boston. See, Stryker knew the Sabertooth would eventually figure out someone was following him, he was too good not to. The trick was to take advantage of Creed's skill and use it to their benefit. So the Colonel picked an expendable pawn (Mikey the Tracker) to chase after Victor and get caught. What neither Tracker nor Victor knew was that Stryker also sent another mutant to shadow the shadow.

Psyche was one of the Colonel's favorite mutant pets. He'd had her since she was 12 years old and had successfully twisted her mind to fit his own agenda. She was young, beautiful and a mind reader. Not to mention cruel and completely and utterly loyal to Styrker.

Psyche was on Newbury Street that day too, sitting in one of the outdoor cafes, drinking a cappuccino and listening to Victor's mind while two French lovers argued at the table next to her. After he killed Tracker (she'd felt the snap in her mind) Pysche overheard exactly what she'd been waiting for. The targets were on Prince Edward Island.

_Time to go home_, both the male and female mutant thought to themselves. But they were smiling for entirely different reasons…

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

_What am I doing? What am I gonna do?_ Logan wondered desperately. _Nothing. You're gonna do nothing! You're never going to tell her and he's never going to find out._

Jimmy Runt's problems had started the second week. He watched his 'sister-in-law' as her body began to heal, as she slowly gained some much needed weight and started to lose that haunted look. Her eyes were even beginning to sparkle now, and that twinkle stayed longer and longer each day. He was fascinated by her stories and humbled by her quiet strength of character. Lupa didn't complain or whine, she grit her teeth and bore whatever life threw at her.

Of course the female feral wasn't entirely free of flaws. She was not a morning person, to say the least. So much so that Jimmy now didn't bother speaking to her until she'd been up for an hour and had two cups of tea.

In addition, Lupa was very sensitive. Careless teasing or an unintentionally sharp comment could wound her deeply. Then the Wolf Girl would shut down and disappear into her room, staying silent for long hours, refusing to explain what the matter was. It frustrated Logan to no end, he wasn't a mind reader, how could he help if she didn't talk to him?!

But as the days passed he began to see Lupa_ was_ speaking to him. Her periods of silence were the result of him being too rough with her and clamming up was the only way she knew how to respond. She felt things very deeply, almost too deeply perhaps. He could understand that and thereafter made an effort to think before he spoke.

The two ferals fell into a routine, they would make their meals together because she had no experience cooking and he thought she should learn. They took walks on the beach and listened to music by the fire. They knew each other in ways only people who have lived together can. It was very companionable and comforting for both Jimmy and Lupa.

Logan never noticed she never read any of the books in the cottage. Lupa never noticed how he would watch her from the corner of his eye.

It was the fourth week that Logan had his epiphany and questioned himself as to what to do. He was in love with his brother's mate and she had no clue.

_And you'll never tell either of them!_ His internal voice stated flatly. _It would ruin everything. _

It had been five and a half weeks since their escape from Three Mile Island with still no sign of Victor. They had just finished dinner and retired to their respective rooms for the night, Logan to think about Lupa and Lupa to clutch her mate's letter and wonder when he'd return to her.

Neither heard the soldiers breaking into their cottage because one such soldier was a mutant named Mute. The man could silence any noise within a few yards of himself. When the ferals caught the scent of intruders it was too late. The soldiers released tear gas and smoke bombs in the bedrooms to disorient Jimmy and Lupa. The men, who had the advantage of gas masks and thermal vision goggles, shot both ferals full of tranquilizers. It took two darts to bring down the female but the male went down only after the fifth shot. Both mutants had been screaming the others' name; each trying to reach the other, only separated by a bedroom wall.

"Sir. It's over. Mission a success," the mutant soldier spoke into a radio.

"Excellent work, Mute. Tie them up and bring them in. Make sure to keep pumping drugs into them, I don't want to have either of them waking up. It's critical to the plan that they never see each other again. Are we clear, soldier?" The voice that came over the radio was slightly distorted but anyone who knew the man would be able to recognize it at once.

"Crystal, Colonel Stryker."

**A/N: Please review to make my day, next chapter will be up ASAP!**


	34. A Series of Unfortunate Events

**A/N: Nope, still own nada but my OCs and the plot. Many thanks to:**

**My Beautiful Ending – LOL, LOVE the Trix reference, my kinda humor!**

**xPrincetonx – Yeah, he's gonna be pissed, but more on that later…**

**tulip tea – Don't worry, there's always the sequel for her to find out! Thanks again for all the help with plot development BTW, you were are goddess-send!**

**FluidDegree – Yay! Thanks for the review! I put a teeny bit of info on Mute in here for ya!**

**Gothicpug – I actually LOVE writing Stryker, it's uber fun for me, for some reason…Should I be worried about myself? ;-]**

**Obscure Stranger – No, sorry, nothing's gonna turn out alright for a while at least.**

**Lil Mizz Blondi – LOL, great review, had me giggling like mad!**

**kungfupandabear – Yeah, Stryker's a total douche. Always ruining perfectly good plans to live happily ever after…Bastard.**

**QuirkyCullen – Man, I love reading your reviews, I always giggle after, X**_**D**_

**lou – Yay! New reviewer! Here's your update, hope it wasn't too tardy! ;-]**

**And thanks to ImaBiteChu (OMG I LOVE your name! As a kid, biting was my only defense against my bullying older sister), ****Lady-Kiki-Theevilmastermind****, FluidDegree and Aleck-Xandra for favoriting/alerting! **

Chapter 34

A Series of Unfortunately Manipulated Events

When Jimmy next awoke he was lying on the lower bunk bed of a standard issue prison cell, iron bars and everything. Before being able to process more than that, a very familiar voice spoke.

"Ah, Logan. I was wondering when you'd wake. How do you feel?"

"Where's Lupa, Stryker?" Jimmy snarled as he sat up. The Colonel was sitting cross-legged on the other side of the bars holding Logan in.

"Believe it or not, Jimmy, I am not your enemy." The Colonel affected a sigh. "She's not here. Someone…important, was tipped off to your location. This man-the General, as he's known, believes that you and...Lupa, are valuable commodities too unique not to control."

Stryker paused before speaking again. "His team, which was led by a mutant named Mute, captured you both. I imagine you're wondering how he was able to sneak up without any warning. This mutant can control all sound within 15 feet of himself. Mute is a sort of human silencer or amplifier, depending on the occasion. For _your_ mission, he blocked all sounds of the team's infiltration. You never had a chance, really." Here the Colonel exhaled.

Logan growled under his breath, he didn't like hearing pity in his former C.O.'s voice, though he was too overwhelmed to recognize it as false pity.

"I was able to use my, influence, to get you from him. I couldn't get her out, Logan. It was either you or nothing. I'm sorry."

"What do you want with me? Why'd you get me from him, Stryker?" Jimmy Runt asked.

The feral sounded so defeated, so pained that the Colonel had to focus on not breaking out into a gleeful grin. _Obviously this female means more to him than he's letting on. How delightful, I can use this against him in some many different ways…But gingerly, oh so gingerly…_

"Logan, I've always liked you and I want to help you now. I can understand why you and Victor ah, left and took her too. I wasn't aware of what was happening to her. The scientists were only supposed to observe her and run some harmless tests, that's all I gave them permission to do." The Colonel worked hard to keep the right amount of pleading and earnestness in his tone.

"They didn't tell me that they were doing…_that_, to her. I would never have approved such treatment of a young woman, Logan, I'm not a monster."

"You said someone tipped off this other guy, the General. Who tipped him off and why? How'd the snitch know where we even were?" Logan was suspicious, and the Colonel knew he'd have to tread carefully in order to push the mutant in the right direction, the direction Stryker wanted him to go in.

The uniformed man stayed quiet for almost a full minute before answering. The delay was just long enough for anxiety and dread to creep up into Logan's gut.

"You won't believe me, but it's the truth. It was Victor."

"NO!" Jimmy roared, he rushed to the bars the separated him from the Colonel. "NO! You're LYING!"

Stryker spoke quickly and made sure to add the barest hint of pain in his voice, as if he hated giving this news to Jimmy. "Victor revealed where you and Lupa were hiding. In exchange I believe he must have been promised a sort of mutation upgrade."

"What?!" Jimmy Runt's head was practically spinning with all this new information. Different scenarios raced through his head, trying to find an explanation that didn't involve Creed turning on them. Everything was happening so fast…

_He'd never betray us! But how did those men find us? No! Impossible! He would never do that...But, how else would anyone know where we were? We were so god damned careful-no one else knew where we were…Vic's never broken under torture, they couldn't of gotten our location that way…They could only know because he told them willingly…NO!...He couldn't have done that, hand over his brother and his mate. Could he…?_

"Wait, a mutant upgrade?" Jimmy questioned, ready to smell out a lie.

But Stryker was well aware of ferals' olfactory skills and was prepared. He took the truth and coated it in deceit like bitter candy. After all, Victor _was_ the one who gave away Lupa and Jimmy's position, he'd just done it unconsciously thanks to Psyche. Stryker thanked his lucky stars every day for the mind reading mutant.

"You remember right before you three, ah, left, your next mission was to be in Africa?" Stryker asked. "Well, we went as scheduled and found a new type of metal. It's called Adamantium and it's virtually indestructible." The Colonel worked hard to keep the wistfulness out of his voice when speaking of the ore.

Logan hadn't yet smelled a lie, or at least an outright one.

"Victor overheard me speaking about it with Zero a few days before your departure. Some scientists believe that a mutant with healing capabilities could benefit from Adamantium, become harder to hurt and more powerful. Victor wanted that. He apparently made a deal with the General; you and Lupa in exchange for the so called upgrade." The Colonel was being careful with his phrasing now, never using definitive words, only assumptive ones like 'apparently.'

Again Stryker had blended truth with fiction. Victor _had_ overheard Zero and the Colonel talking about the new ore and he _had_ expressed an interest in obtaining such an improvement. But that was before he'd stumbled upon Lupa, two days before, in fact. They'd only had that one conversation about Adamantium, as well.

"Where is he?" Logan asked coldly.

"I don't know. And besides, with his new…improvements, you're no match for him, Logan. He'd cut you down in minutes." _Don't encourage him to go after Victor, don't push, let him come to you…Wait for it…_

"Where's Lupa?"

Stryker sighed, trying to sound wearied and worried. "I would assume she's still with the General. From what I understand, he doesn't plan to keep her around for long. I'm so sorry I couldn't get her out, Logan. I used all my bargaining chips just to get you."

Stryker was on pins and needles waiting for Logan's response. He had manipulated and maneuvered all he could and now he just had to wait and see if the feral took the bait.

"Got anymore of this fancy new metal?" Logan asked in a deadly voice.

_Oh Logan, if only you knew how happy you've just made me, _Stryker idly thought. His plan was finally coming to fruition_. _Lupa was back under his control, Logan was volunteering for the experiment,_ Now if only Victor would stay away…._

oOoOoOoOoOooO

**Prince Edward Island, Canada, Logan and Lupa's Cottage**

Victor and the Runt had never spoken about how Creed would find them on P.E. Island. They both knew all Victor had to do was sniff 'em out, he was better than a fuckin' blood hound. And with Logan making weekly trips to town for supplies, the Sabertooth had no trouble at all following the invisible scent trail back to the cottage.

What happened after he found the house empty was talked about on island for years afterwards. People heard a spine tingling roar full of agonizing rage. It was heard for miles and sounded like a wild beast, a lion or a tiger, something that belonged on the African Serengeti, not on the grassy knolls of a Canadian atoll.

Victor didn't make a noise when he found the house ransacked and obviously empty of its rightful occupants. He hadn't yelled when he caught a whiff of dispersed military grade teargas. He didn't growl when he saw the used smoke bombs or spied the muddy boot prints trekking throughout the cottage. It wasn't until he walked into his mate's room and saw his infamous overcoat twisted up with the sheets on her bed that he made a sound.

_She slept with it._ Was all Victor could think. _She fell asleep every night wrapped up in my coat. _He could smell _her _saturated in the black fabric, blended with his own scent. They smelled good together.

Creed felt cold, numb. _Was this shock?_

He didn't even hear the terrible howl that emanated from deep within in his throat, a mournful, powerful, primal howl that promised retribution.

One name popped into Victor's mind: _Stryker._

**A/N: One more chapter to go before the finis! Please please review and lemme know what you think. I'm pretty nervous about this chappie, so hearing what you guys think would be amazing! Remember, you get a cupcake for it for reviewing, too! (Available for pick up on my profile.) ;-]**


	35. Agendas, Ends & Means

**A/N: As usual, I own nothing but Lupa, other OCs and the plot. If I owned Victor Creed I'd never give him back to Marvel…**

**Thanks to**

**FluidDegree – Yeah, I totally agree. I'm gonna go back and add some more to the chapter to make it more realistic. Thanks for the review!**

**LiveFreeDieWell – Wow, you like read my mind regarding Logan's feelings for Lupa!**

**My Beautiful Ending – Here's your daring rescue, hope it was 'daring' enough! ;-]**

**NightStalkerBlade – Don't you just love to hate Stryker? I know I do…**

**kungfupandabear – Bum nuggets? LOL!**

**Lil Mizz Blondi – Aw, don't be sad! It'll get better soon!**

**DreamingCowGirl – I like shiny things, especially shiny things involving Logan…**

**QuirkyCullen – OK, sooo sorry the delay but the damn plot bunnies abandoned me! **

**QueensGambit – Thanks for wonderful review! Isn't Gambit totally hot? I think I'm gonna put him in the sequel, whatcha think?**

**xPrincetonx – Glad you like how I blended the movies with my story, hope it's not too weird.**

**HeyPeoples – We find out more about Lupa and Logan in the sequel, don't worry. **

**ObscureStranger – Thanks for the review! =]**

**taterandtotsrule – LOL, loved your review!**

**TheMentalHyuuga – Glad you like it! Thanks for reviewing!!! **

**xXxoddballxXx – Thank you for the lovely compliments! It means a lot to me!**

**Thanks also to vampheart410, Marie-pier and Cap'nSparrowsGirl for alerting/favoriting!**

_Recap:_

_Stryker was on pins and needles waiting for Logan's response. He had manipulated and maneuvered all he could and now he just had to wait and see if the feral took the bait._

"_Got anymore of this fancy new metal?" Logan asked in a deadly voice._

Oh Logan, if only you knew how happy you've just made me,_Stryker idly thought. His plan was finally coming to fruition__. __Lupa was back under his control, Logan was volunteering for the experiment,_Now if only Victor would stay away….

Chapter 35

Agendas, Ends & Means

All Stryker said in return to Logan was, "Come with me." Then he let the male feral out of the prison cell and they walked together to the medical wing, united in a common purpose. Now that the Runt had a goal, namely finding Lupa and having a nice little _chat_ with Victor, he was hell bent and determined to go through whatever it took to achieve these objectives.

Right before the procedure started, when the female scientist told him to think of whatever made him volunteer for this, he imagined Lupa. He thought about the way she smiled at him to cheer him up when he brooded. The way she would bite her lip, worrying over him, after he awoke from one of his nightmares. He remembered how at the beginning, if he was too near her when she woke up from a nap, Lupa would snarl and claw at him, not remembering where she was or who he was. Then it would be his turn to worry over her.

The day before they were taken, Lupa said the happiest days of her life had been there on P.E. Island. She said she'd never been so free or felt so safe. Shit, it wasn't often that Logan met someone who'd been dealt a worse hand of cards than he had, but this was one such time. He figured if living on the run with a strange mutant while hiding from Black Ops guys was the best part of her life, it ain't been much of a life so far.

The female feral made him feel strong too, like a protector, her protector. He hadn't felt that way in a long time and it felt good to be the good guy again. To be someone who had the responsibility for something so, well…precious, lame as it sounded. From the start that's how Jimmy Runt saw the Wolf Girl: precious. First, it was simply because she was a female feral and they were practically as rare as unicorns. Then as his brother's mate, she was his new sister and possible salvation for Victor's soul. And finally, as a woman, a unique creature once in this world, truly as rare as a unicorn.

Logan knew that he couldn't leave her in the hands of this General. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if she went back to a life in cages, to being watched and treated like a freak, or an animal or a science experiment/guinea pig. He neared panic when he lingered too long over the idea of her being alone and scared. Maybe even hurt.

Now, perhaps if Jimmy Runt and Lupa hadn't been forced into such isolation, into such close quarters where they saw no one else but each other for days on end, the male feral wouldn't have fallen in love, or at least fallen into believing himself in love, with her. Perhaps then he would have been able to think more clearly and rationally after he awoke in that cell on Three Mile Island, thought with his head, not his racing, hurting heart.

But as a man in love, or as the case may be, deep infatuation, he wasn't able to think clearly or rationally. And, being a career military man, Stryker took advantage of the mutant's unbalance, he flooded Logan with information and manipulated truths, he never let the feral stop and 'catch his breath,' at the risk of Logan having time to think things over or clear his head. The lies were bought hook, line and sinker. Victor woulda been livid at his little brother's 'stupidity' had he been there to witness it.

So there was Jimmy, strapped down in a freaking fish tank filled with some weird green liquid and a creepy scientist lady leanin' over him, about as cheerful as the Grim Reaper. Then the pain hit and it was like nothing he had ever felt. Thoughts of Lupa and Victor fled his mind and all there was, was PAINPAINPAIN. Fuckin' creepy scientist lady was right; he'd never experienced anything like this before, not in the century and a half of his existence*. Fire streaked through his veins and there wasn't enough air in his lungs to scream and express the utter agony. Logan felt as if he was being skinned for leather, submerged in boiling acid, filleted with a chainsaw, bones melted, burned alive.

His brain couldn't process the amount of pain he was in, it overloaded with all the stress. First his heart started to race, his body seized, blood pressure dropped and finally his heart stopped beating. And it was over. The feral was dead.

For about 45 seconds.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Victor meanwhile was just outside of Middletown, Pennsylvania, minutes from Stryker's base. He'd made the usually 20 hour trip from P.E. Island in under 13, barely holding the Sabertooth in check the whole time. His inner animal was seething, boiling with rage, but the man was not letting it bubble over. Not yet anyway. Victor couldn't think too long on what could be happening to Lupa or else the beast would try to rip away from his control. He couldn't let himself wonder if she was alone, if she was scared and calling for him. If she'd been hurt…No, he couldn't let himself think about that…

Creed was again wearing his black overcoat and occasionally, when these dangerous thoughts lingered, he would lower his head ever so slightly to catch a whiff of peaches, of summertime, of his mate. He'd left permanent impressions of his fingers in the steering wheel of the stolen Chevy Suburban when he caught the scent of her tears on the fabric.

Abandoning the SUV a quarter mile away from the bridge that connected the military base to the mainland, Sabertooth made his way to a deserted beach and swam to the opposite shore. Once on the island, Creed vaulted over a chain link fence topped in razor wire. He easily avoided the sloppy late night security patrols that casually wandered the base. Though to be fair, who would actually _want_ to break into a nuclear power plant? Fuckin' brilliant cover story…

Approaching the back of the giant compound, Victor forced opened the first door he came across and entered an unfamiliar hallway. He didn't have a plan as of yet, the only thing running through his mind was _FIND HER FIND HER FIND HER FIND HER FIND HER…_

Walking down the hallway, the feral hunted for any trance of his brother or mate. He walked for several minutes, down corridors and passageways, _left, right, left, left_, until finally he caught the fresh scent of Jimmy Runt. The trail led Creed straight to the medical wing where he could hear clinking glass and muffled voices.

Victor walked into an enormous, two tiered lab. On the lower level, the one he was on, his brother sat on a steel table, half naked and dripping wet. A nurse was taking Logan's vitals while he stared down at the floor, panting heavily. About 20 feet above them was an observation deck where a group of men, some in military dress, some in lab coats, stood congratulating and toasting each other. No one noticed Victor's arrival.

The room smelled of champagne, metal and pain.

"WHERE IS SHE?!" The Sabertooth roared out, announcing his arrival.

Dead silence. Then, Logan practically flew off the table and tackled his elder brother to the ground. The nurse made a hasty retreat.

"You fucking bastard! I'm gonna fucking KILL YOU!" Every word was punctuated with a thunderous blow to Victor's face. His skeleton now coated in Adamantium, the punches Logan landed would have killed anyone but his brother. The new force behind the strikes even surprised Creed, but not for long.

Victor used his larger body to his advantage and flipped the Runt so their positions were reversed and Jimmy was now on the ground being pummeled. Creed straddled the smaller mutant and didn't hold back. He made sure to lengthen his claws and twist his wrist as he landed a punch so Logan's skin was sliced, not just bruised. Both ferals were snarling and hissing up a storm, gnashing their teeth and growling deep in their chests. Logan bucked his hips and pushed Victor off of him. They stood, circling each other, eyeing each other, blind to the rest of the world.

Victor wore his usual vicious battlefield grin, finding joy in the challenge, in releasing his beast. Jimmy Runt wore a determined grimace; he found no beauty in the art of death, of war, the craft his brother had perfected.

As far as the elder feral was concerned, this was the perfect opportunity to demonstrate to his younger brother the level of disappointment Victor felt regarding Jimmy's babysitting abilities. He had trusted the brat with the most important thing in his life, his fucking MATE, and that asshole goes and gets her caught! Once they got this shit settled (there had to be consequences for fucking up, after all) he and Jimmy could go and get Lupa back. Take out Stryker too, while they were at it. _Little fucker, don't even know why he's itchin' fer a fight but 'm happy ta oblige…_

Finally Creed made a move and rushed Logan. He slashed at Jimmy's bare chest with five black claws, opening up long strips of flesh to briefly reveal a few silver ribs before the gashes healed up. _That_ got Victor's attention.

"What the FUCK is THAT?!" Sabertooth barked as he retreated from the attack, his animal was confused and disturbed by the sight of shiny ribs.

"You're not the only one now, bub." Logan sneered back.

"Only one with what?! What are you talkin' 'bout little brother?!" Creed was losing his patience.

"Stryker's new metal. Adamantium," Jimmy hissed back, eager to see the look of surprise on Victor's face.

But instead of surprised, his brother looked repulsed. It didn't seem possible, but he looked angrier too. "What the FUCK, Jimmy?! Why the fuck did ya let 'em put that shit inta you?! Where's Lupa?! Where's my MATE?! Tell me what the HELL is goin' ON!"

Creed was standing still now, almost shaking with rage and disbelief. _Was Jimmy involved in this? _

"You should know where she is better than I can, Victor. You were the one to sell us out!" Logan was shifting from foot to foot, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

"Sell you out?! You think I'd betray my brother and my mate?! Fuck you, Runt! Now let's settle this and go get my girl. We'll talk about your metal ass later."

"MY metal ass?! What about YOURS?" Jimmy indignantly retorted.

"What you talkin' 'bout? Unlike you, _I_ got no problems getting through airport metal detectors! Now let's GO and find Lupa!"

The world collapsed for Logan. Stryker had lied. Victor hadn't betrayed them or undergone the Adamantium procedure. How could he be so _stupid_?! Of course, Stryker lied, that's what he does: Lie with a capital L. Even though his stomach felt like it was sinking into itself like a black hole, Jimmy shoved aside all thoughts and emotions. The only important thing now was to find the Wolf Girl and get out of here.

Both brothers started at the sound of clapping, they had forgotten all about their audience. They turned and looked up to the second story of the lab. Stryker stood at the railing looking down at the ferals, his colleagues having already fled at the first sight of Victor.

"Well I have to say, I was surprised at how easily you trusted me, Logan, rather foolish. Wouldn't you agree, Victor?" Stryker purred.

"Where's Lupa." Creed ground out from clenched teeth.

"Oh, she's with the General, I wasn't completely dishonest. But you'll never find her, he's quite taken with her, you see." The Colonel smiled grotesquely. "So now, what am I going to do with you two, hm?"

"Stryker, you fucked with the wrong woman." Victor snarled and bound forward, attempting to leap up onto the second level. Suddenly three gunshots rang out and Creed fell back on the floor, bleeding from his neck and chest. Logan ran to his prone brother.

Agent Zero stepped out from the shadows behind the Colonel. "Hello, Creed. Miss me?"

"Zero!" Jimmy cried out surprised.

"Hello, Logan."

"What the hell did you shoot him with?! He's not healing!"

"My favorite new rounds. Adamantium bullets. Like them? Packs a little extra punch, they slice through bone and flesh like a hot knife through butter. Should keep him down for a few more minutes. But don't worry, he'll be good as new soon," Zero drawled with a cocky smirk on his handsome face.

"What do you want with us, Stryker?" Jimmy Runt asked.

"I'm afraid we don't have time for me to fully explain it to you, Logan. Suffice to say, both you and your brother are valuable research tools that I'd like to explore."

"And Lupa?"

"Since a female feral is quite rare, I'm sure the General will have many avenues he'll like to explore as well."

While the Runt and Stryker were talking, Victor lay silent and still on the lab floor, waiting for his body to heal and for the right time to strike. Those new bullets hurt like a motha fucker and he wasn't looking forward to getting hit again.

"You bastard! He'll kill her!" Logan cried out.

"No, I doubt that. Well, at least for a while. I'm sure once his research is complete he'll…dispose of her, but that's neither here nor there." Stryker smiled, he loved winding Jimmy up like this, it was so,_ satisfying_.

He must have pushed too far though, because the younger feral rushed to the staircase connecting the upper level to the lower level. Zero started firing and managed to graze Logan in the shoulder and thigh, but the feral kept coming, running in a zigzag pattern up the stairs to avoid the flying bullets. Stryker was screaming at Zero to "Shoot, just shoot," but everything was happening so fast.

No one noticed Victor had healed and was now making his way up the stairs as well.

Logan reached the second level and leapt forward to Stryker, blood rage in his eyes, his animal completely in control. Suddenly his body fell from the air and fell to the ground lifeless. Zero had shot him in the head.

**A/N: Alright, I know I said this would be the final chapter before the sequel, but there'll be one more THEN the sequel will start. Stupid plot bunnies and their stupid ideas…They're real pushy bastards.**

**Please, please, please review with any ideas or comments, I'd LOVE to hear them! Plus you get a cupcake (available for pick up on my profile page). ;-]**

***I read somewhere that the brothers were born in the 1820s so that's what I'm going with. Also, I'm guessing Origins took place in the 70s (as I said before, I gots no idea, so review/PM me if you know the correct dates for sure) so 150 odd years is about right for Victor and Jimmy. Though I did decide to make Vic four years older in my story and I have no idea what the exact age difference is supposed to be. Forgive me! *Puppy Eyes***


	36. Endings

**A/N: I own nada but Lupa and the plot! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed my story, I truly, truly appreciate it! Special thanks to the following:**

**NightStalkerBlade – More stuff going down now! **

**Lil Mizz Blondi – I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you! Mwuahahah! No just kidding. I could tell you but it would ruin the surprise!**

**My Beautiful Ending – LOL, glad it was daring enough! And loved your review, I'm glad that line made you laugh!**

**kungfupandabear – Thanks again for the review, so glad the last chappie was fun to read!**

**Obscure Stranger – "Gah, Zero" is right! Sneaky little bastard…**

**xPrincetonx – I had to bribe the plot bunnies with ice burg lettuce before they would help me out again, finicky little things.**

**QuirkyCullen – OK, totally my bad about not updating sooner, unfortunately life got in the way (isn't that always the way?). Hope the wait was worth it!**

**MovieNutNiffer – Yay! I'm sooo glad you've been enjoying the story since the start, thanks for reviewing!!!**

**tulip tea – Poor Logan is right, he's always getting the short end of the stick.**

**lilou – Thank you SOOO much for reviewing, glad you like the story! =]**

**bookdreamer17 – Can't wait to read your next chapter, love how you write Victor!!! And thanks for the idea about Stryker's patriotism, freaking brilliant! Thanks for letting me use it! XD**

**And thanks also to ****Silvertabbymars****, ****girllyingbythesea901****, ****lovingmama23****, ****Silvertabbymars**** and ****lightning8star**** for favoriting/reviewing!**

_Recap:_

_Logan rushed to the staircase connecting the upper level to the lower level. Zero started firing and managed to graze the rampaging feral in the shoulder and thigh, but the he kept coming, running in a zigzag pattern up the stairs to avoid the flying Adamantium bullets. Stryker was screaming at Zero to "Shoot, just shoot," but everything was happening so fast. _

_No one noticed Victor had healed from his own wounds and was now making his way up the stairs. _

_Logan reached the second level and leapt forward to Stryker, blood rage in his eyes, freshly minted metal claws extended and glinting in the artificial light. His animal was completely in control. Suddenly the Runt's body fell from the air and dropped to the ground lifeless. Zero had shot him in the head with his last Adamantium bullet. _

Chapter 36

Endings

It was just then that Victor reached the top of staircase. Both Stryker and Agent Zero were standing still, staring down at the mutant sprawled at their feet as if they were waiting for him to jump back up like the villain in a bad horror movie. Creed bellowed out a roar seeing his baby brother felled and tackled Zero to the floor. Big brother was in a bad mood. Hollering barely comprehensible words and expletives, Victor started ripping the gun loving mutant apart. _Now_ was the moment the Sabertooth crouching in wait inside Victor's mind had been waiting for the entire journey south from Prince Edward Island. _Now_ the beast could be unleashed to indulge in its darkest, most cruel and violent fantasies.

And oh, he did indulge.

Using his long talons, the feral tore large chunks of flesh from his prey; blood, skin and meat coated the walls, ceiling and Creed. Using his teeth to shred Zero's throat, the beast relished the wet gurgling that emanated from what remained of the dying agent's neck. It ended much too quickly to appease the dreaming animal. Victor reprimanded himself for granting such a mercy to the Colonel's pet and chalked the swift death up to his animal being wound too tight for too long. Though he had to admit, while the death was fairly quick, perhaps only taking two to three minutes, the method of execution was…exquisite.

He stood up to take in the scene before him: the body lay on its back, limbs askew and awkward from struggling and seizing. Zero didn't have much left of his torso seeing as he'd essentially been hollowed out like a jack-o-lantern, but his pectorals had been left unharmed. The name carved there over a month ago was still clear as day and beautifully scarred over.

Splattered with blood, it laid claim to the kill, VICTOR CREED.

The Sabertooth couldn't resist giving in to his macabre sense of humor-he dipped his index finger in the blood pooling on the floor around Zero and drew a small red smiley face on top of his 'autograph.' He smiled at the sight.

Rising out of his post violence daze, Victor stood, swung around. Jimmy was still out and Stryker was still standing there frozen in place, white as a ghost, staring at Creed with lips slightly parted. The feral tilted his head, considering his former commanding officer. _He's probably never seen death up this close before, a real life murder… Fucker seems the type to always get someone else hold the knife, do his dirty work fer him. Doubt he's ever stepped foot on a battlefield either, goddamn pansy assed officers givin' orders from far away at H.Q.…Stinks of fear, too!_

"Hello Colonel." Creed rumbled, curling his lips in a mocking smile. "How've ya been?" Had Logan been awake and coherent at that moment, he would have been struck at how much his brother resembled a housecat playing with a trapped mouse.

"Victor, I-" Stryker began only to be cut off by a very pissed off snarl. Stryker flinched.

"Save it. Now tell me where she is, or I'll do to _you_ what I did to your little pet over here. But I'll keep you alive for a while longer."

"I was telling the truth before, she is with the General! Victor, don't you understand?! Think of everything we could gain from studying her, how America will become safer for it! Soldiers who can heal themselves, fight better and live longer, we'd never lose another war! No more folded flags for widows and mothers! No more wooden coffins for our boys! We'd never suffer the shame of another Vietnam again! What is the suffering, or even the life of one compared to so many others?"

Stryker was on a roll, not even pausing for breath as he passionately listed his justifications and rationalizations. "And you know other nations, other governments would do anything to get a hold of her or our research and use it against us! It's too dangerous for her to be left alone, not under our supervision. You must understand, Victor!"

Creed realized something right then, Stryker was buying into his own bullshit. _Folks that believe, really Believe, in something, always are the most dangerous type of crazies, seen it before. Damn fanatics…_

"See now, you've got some problems with yer argument there," as Victor spoke he slowly stalked closer to Stryker, Zero's blood drying on his face and coat. "Yer first problem bein' I'm not sure how much I like the idea of havin' a bunch of super soldiers runnin' round the military. Me an' Jimmy, well, I suppose ya could say we're used ta bein'…unique." Victor had almost reached Stryker now.

"Second issue is the fact I couldn't give two flying fucks about your patriotic, bullshit propaganda, won't work on me, I don't give a rats' ass about 'keepin' the nation safe.' Didja forget I'm Canadian?" Creed smirked, pleased with his wit.

"And three, yer biggest problem really, that one life? The one life for many? Well, you picked the wrong 'one.' Lupa is mine. Her life belongs to ME. No one else can have her. No one else can touch her. No one but **ME**. She is My Mate. **MINE** and no one else's!"

As he roared out the word mate, Jimmy opened his eyes. It was a horrifying scene to awake to: guts and gore splattered the room (presumably from the eviscerated body lying on the floor not 10 feet away) and a terrifying man in a black coat covered in blood screaming at a terrified man in military dress. _What the HELL is going on?! Who the fuck are these guys?! Where am I?! _

Logan decided now would be an opportune time to run, preferably attracting as little attention as possible. He tried to move quietly as he rose from the floor, prepared to bolt the second the giant painted in crimson looked his way. _Speak of the devil, _Jimmy quipped as the stranger he'd been wondering about snapped his head to the bewildered feral.

"Took ya long enough, Runt. I was jus' finishin' up with this bastard, then we go find Her." Victor turned back to face Stryker, not noticing the look of panic and confusion in his brother's eyes.

"Who are you?" Logan husked out. _How does the big, bloody guy knows me? Am I supposed to know him?_

This made Creed whip his head back to Logan. "The fuck you talkin' bout?" Victor narrowed his eyes, "Never mind, jus' shut the hell up and lemme finish chattin' with the Colonel 'fore we get comp'ny." Creed wasn't in the mood to be distracted from his prey; he and Jimmy could talk _after_.

But before Jimmy Runt could respond or even flee, there was a large explosion that shook the room and made plaster dust rain down from the ceiling. Then there was the familiar tattooing of gunfire very nearby Victor hadn't thought it possible, but Stryker paled even further. The explosion meant bad things for one of them.

Suddenly Agent Zero's radio went off, "Colonel, sir! One of the subjects got loose and blew a hole in the wall of the detainment facility, they're escaping! I'm sending two teams to escort you from the facility!"

No sooner than the anonymous voice on the walkie-talkie stop speaking, did Creed hear some of said soldiers approach the lab's lower level, shouting for Stryker. Until the escort teams ventured up the staircase, Zero's body, the brothers and the Colonel were all out of sight. Victor's feline instinct to corner prey had made him push everyone on the second level deeper into the room, far from the railings.

The voices seemed to snap Logan back into reality and out of his indecision. "I'm gettin' the hell outta here." The younger feral muttered to no one in particular.

Before Creed could turn his head to respond, Jimmy had bolted out of the room, leaving a scent trail reeking of anxiety and questions.

"Shit! Damn it ta hell, Jimmy!" Creed growled low in his throat and deep in his chest. He could hear the soldiers starting up the staircase. He glared at the shaking Colonel and grabbed his throat with one hand, "Tell me where she is!" Victor kept his grip tight enough to be painful and restricting but loose enough so Stryker could still rasp out an answer.

"With the General! That's all I know! I swear it, Victor!" Stryker's face was turning red as he wasted precious air to speak.

Victor yelled out as he felt the bullets hit his back, dropping the Colonel with frustration. _Fuckin' goddamn fuckin' soldiers! I still know jack shit 'bout where she is!_

"I'll come fer ya, Stryker! And fer HER!" Creed snarled as he fled the room, trying to avoid additional bullet wounds. Luckily the soldiers were using regular ammunition instead of those Adamantium beauties. It would take a few dozen of these rounds to his body or one lucky head shot to bring the enraged feral down.

_Didn't get 'nuff time to find more out 'bout this General! I need a chance ta get 'im alone, ask him again if he knows where my Lupa is…I _will_ find her. Can't keep me away from her! NO ONE CAN. _Victor was fuming but he had almost reached his healing limits, his body struggling to heal as fast as it was being wounded.

Victor tore down hallways and corridors, catching neither hide nor hair of his younger brother. _Hell, I'll find him later. He got a head start after all, little shit…_

Finally Creed found an exit and raced to the beach; he didn't see any patrols and figured they were busy with the big bang near the med wing. He jumped the razor topped fence for the second time that night, and dove head first into the water. Victor'd lost the soldiers back in the passageways (though he allowed the possibility that they let him go to ensure Stryker's safety) but kept his eyes and ears open for a delayed attack. Fortunately, luck was on his side and he reached the opposite shore where hours earlier he left the stolen suburban. Still no sign of Jimmy Runt.

_Fuck him. We'll find each other sooner or later, he knows ta meet up in Boston if we get separated. Asshole's bein' weird anyway, actin' like he don' know me…I got more important things ta do than chase after him. Gotta find my Lupa. First though, need ta get supplies, do some recon, find out where this General sets up camp…Wonder what Erik's up ta, bastard owes me a favor from back in '45, he'll hook me up. Gotten all gung ho 'bout mutant rights and brotherhood an' all that shit, after all…Where's that sunnuvabitch Lehnsherr live again, Philly? Yeah, Philadelphia, the city of Brotherly Love…Heheh, always had a good sense of irony, that boy…_

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

**Somewhere Dark and Far Away…**

_They have me again. Not the same 'They' as before, where He was, They have new faces here but the same ideas, the same questions, the same experiments. They are the same as the others and the two do not deserve a distinction. _

_No one talks to me here, or even to each other while in my presence. I haven't heard the sound of a human voice in what feels like weeks but I know is probably only days. I don't know why They've stopped speaking, perhaps it's a new form of torture or some kind of test. I don't know and I don't care anymore either. All I can do is wait for death or rescue. There is no way for me escape unless perhaps over time They relax their guard and I am favored by the gods. _

_I don't really believe in them any more though, the gods that is. I have put all my faith and hope in my mate, in my Victor. I cannot doubt that he will find me, I just have to give him time. We are well hidden wherever we are. I know it is underground, I can smell the dank earth. _

_I know nothing more though, They kept me unconscious until I was safely stashed in my new prison. Surprisingly it is a step up from my previous prison: I am not in a dog crate this time, I have an entire room._

_There is a thin sleeping mat and even a stainless steel toilet, but no heat or blanket. Perhaps they will want me to 'earn' the luxury, such a method has been tried on me before by others. It won't work this time, either._

_I wonder how Jimmy is, I remember he was taken at the same time as me. I hope he got away, he should not be hurt for helping me…And Victor, my Victor. Where is he? Does he know I've been taken yet? Is he thinking of me, searching for me? It might be too early still. I mustn't lose faith though, I cannot doubt, I have to stay strong. _

_Perhaps I can work on escaping into my memories, into my mind. Practice and be able to disappear from the world at will. I could even make my own world, one where I am with Victor and we are happy. We would live in a northern forest, in an isolated cabin so he can hunt freely. Jimmy Runt would visit all the time because he'd have his own house nearby. Maybe we could even have some pets, a couple dogs and even a cat…_

_The house has to have a wrap-around porch like Jimmy talked about and a blue door, yes, a bright blue door like at the cottage on P.E. Island…_

Lupa stared off into space, curled up on the tan colored mat she'd dragged into a corner of her room. She retreated into herself, attempting to use her imagination as a sanctuary. The Wolf Girl was right, with practice she would be able to use her mind to escape reality, to feel safe and free and be with her mate. But how long would she have to hide inside her own mind before rescue arrived?

**A/N: OK, so it's finished!!! That is until the sequel, of course. Please, please, PLEASE review if you liked my writing or story at all or if you have any comments, suggestions, corrections or ideas! I'd love to hear from people about what they'd like to have happen in the sequel so send me any requests! Again, I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to review, especially to those who wrote multiple reviews! Now remember, the Cupcakes for Reviews Program is still going strong and will continue on in the sequel, so visit my profile page to pick em up! ;-)**

**P.S. How does the title ****The Dreaming Animal**** sound for the sequel?**


	37. Author's Note SEQUEL!

**Author's Note:**

**OK people, the sequel is up!!! Check out ****The Dreaming Animal**** and please, please, please review!!! I'd like to thank the following people for reviewing chapter 36 of ****The Feral****:**

mandya1313 – So glad you liked the end, and thanks again for all the reviews you wrote, you ROCK!

xPrincetonx – Oh man, where would I be without all your support? Thanks for all the wonderful advice and reviews!

FyreFly – Loose ends shall be tied up indeed, it just might take a while… ;-] Thanks for all the lovely reviews!

kungfupandabear – Yep, Logan lost his memory. Stupid Adamantium bullets… *wink*

NightStalkerBlade – Glad you like the title luv, and not only does it apply to Lupa's escape method but in the comics (maybe in Origins too, I don't remember) someone talks about how feral mutants were animals who dreamt they were men.

Lil Mizz Blondi – Hope the bunnies were quick enough for you! ;-]

QuirkyCullen – I must tell you my dear, as Mae West said 'flattery will get you _every_where.' XD Thanks for the continued support darling!

My Beautiful Ending – You always write such great reviews. Thanks for reading the story and writing feedback, I really appreciate it! Hope the sequel doesn't disappoint!

Mad Eyes Army – I LOVE the saying 'the plot is thickening!' Glad my writing's improved, I was hoping it would! Thanks for the review!

tulip tea – Ah, Tulip, my first reviewer! Where would I be without you? Honestly I probably would never have kept posting new chapters. So thanks for reading and reviewing and being so wonderful!

loving_mama23 – Don't worry, I'll definitely do what you suggest! And yeah, Vic's a total bad ass!

loulou – Don't fret! I'm a sucker for happy endings… ;-)

cutxupxangel – Thanks sooo much for the review, I'm wicked glad you want to read the sequel. Thanks for the title suggestions too, btw!

**Also thanks to ****cutxupxangel****, My Beautiful Ending ****,Silvertabbymars****, ****girllyingbythesea901**** and Blackrosewitch for favoriting/alerting this story!**

**So yeah, go check out The Dreaming Animal and let me know what you think!!!**


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